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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

GIFT  OF 

DANIEL    C.    OILMAN. 

I 

n 

laBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OP  I 

('ALIPORNIA.J 


LANDMARKS  OF  HISTORY. 


?* 


a> 


MIDDLE  AGES 


FROM  THE  REIGN  OF  CHARLEMAGNE, 
TO  THAT  OF  CHARLES  Y. 


'V^rtjJ7 


By  miss  YONGE, 

author  of  "the  heir  ov  redclypfe,"  etc. 


REVISED  AND  PARTLY  RE-WRITTEN  BT 

EDITH  L.  CHASE. 

/library 

FIB9T  AMsiic^Sliloi^F 

CALIFORNIA. 


NEW  YORK: 

LEYPOLDT    &   HOLT, 
1867. 


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1>\ 


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K^ 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1867, 

By  LEYPOLDT  &  HOLT, 

lu  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 

District  of  New  York. 


Little,  Reknib  &  Co., 

PBINTEBS,  STEUEOTTPERS  A  KLBCTR0TTPBR8, 
430  BROOKS  8TBEET,  N.  T. 


PREFACE 


Certain  caterpillars  are  said  to  spin  a  number  of  differ- 
ent threads,  all  forming  one  loop,  through  which  they  pro- 
ceed to  creep,  so  judiciously  holding  the  strands  apart, 
that  no  two  of  them  ever  become  entangled. 

In  weaving  the  warp  and  woof  of  the  History  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  it  would  be  most  desirable  to  possess  the 
skill  of  the  insect ;  since,  instead  of  the  one  broad  line  of 
Roman  Empire,  the  thread's  of  the  story  do  indeed  present 
a  complex  web,  often  more  tangled  in  the  mind  than  in 
reality. 

It  has  been  attempted  to  class  the  subjects  according  to 
the  periods  when  some  general  object  or  idea  influenced 
most  of  the  historical  countries ;  looking  on  the  Land- 
marks rather  as  a  sketch  of  European  events,  than  as  a 
history  of  any  individual  state  or  country,  in  the  hope  that 
they  may  be  found  useful  in  connecting  other  more  de- 
tailed records. 

As  an  assistance  to  chronology.  Tables  of  the  Sovereigns 
of  each  country  are  given  at  the  end,  and  if  constantly 
consulted,  with  the  assistance  of  either  a  Stream  of  Time, 


IV  PREFACE. 

or  of  the  lists  of  Contemporaries  in  the  "  Kings  of  Eng- 
land," they  will,  it  is  hoped,  prevent  confusion.  The  list 
of  Popes  is  not  here  given,  as  it  is  to  be  found  in  the 
above-mentioned  book. 

English  History  is  only  touched  on  so  far  as  to  show 
how  far  it  was  affected  by  the  same  influences  as  the  rest 
of  Europe. 

The  national  spelling  of  Christian  names  has  been  in 
general  followed,  for  if  each  had  been  Anglicised,  the  con- 
fusion of  similar  names  would  have  been  serious ;  as,  for 
instance,  England,  France,  Germany,  and  Castile  having 
each  had  a  Henry  IV.,  greater  clearness  is  gained  by 
terming  them  respectively,  Henry,  Henri,  Heinrich,  and 
Enrique.  It  is  hoped  this  consideration  will  cause  the 
unusual  spelling  of  some  few  familiar  names  to  be  excused. 

July  21th,  1853. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  FRANK  EMPIRE. 

PAGE 

Pabt  I.  State  of  Europe 1 

n.  The  Church  of  the  Eighth  Centuiy  ....  5 

in.  Reign  of  Charlemagne 6 

lY.  Breaking  up  of  Charlemagne's  Emph-e     ...  9 

V.  Northern  Invasions ^13 

VI.  Dethronement  of  the  Carlovingians   ....  ii~ 

CHAPTER  n. 

GROWTfl  OF  THE  PAPAL  POWER. 

Pabt  i.  Schism  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Chui'ches    .        .  17 

n.  The  Normans  in  Sicilv        .......  18 

m.  The  Nonnans  in  England      .     * 21 

IV.  Affairs  of  Spain 23 

V.  Gregory  VII.  and  Heinrich  IV 26 

CHAPTER  in. 

STATE  OF  EUROPE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 

Pabt  i.  The  Feudal  System 30 

II.  The  Church  of  the  Twelfth  Century    .        .       .       .  _35 

m.  Chivahy 38 

•rv.  Learning  and  Literature 41 

V.  The  Cities 43 

VI.  Eastern  Kingdoms .46 

VII.  Heraldiy .49 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  ly. 
THE  FIRST  CRUSADE. 

PAGE 

Part  i.  Peter  tlie  Hermit 51 

II.  The  First  Crusade        .        .        .'      .        .        .        .        54 
ni.  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem 57 

CHAPTER  V. 

GUELFS  AND  GHIBELLIKES. 


Part  I.  St.  Bernard .60 

n.  The  Second  Crusade 63 

in.  Frederick  Barbarossa "    .        .        66 

TV.  Loss  of  Jerusalem 69 

V.  Deaths  of  Heniy  II.  and  Frederick  I.        ...        72 
VI.  The  Third  Crusade 74 


CHAPTER  YI. 
PONTIFICATE  OF  INNOCENT  III. 


Part  i.  The  Interdict  of  France ^^78 

n.  The  Fourth  Crusade ^BSO 

in.  Latin  Empire  of  the  East ^m  82 

rv.  The  Albigenses ▼  84 

V.  Close  of  Innocent's  reign '88 


I 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

THE  EXTINCTION  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  SWABIA. 

Part  i.  The  Fifth  and  Sixth  Crusades 90 

n.  Frederick  II 93 

ni.  The  Seventh  Crusade 95 

IV.  Manfred  of  Sicily         r       ......  99 

V.  Conradine  of  Swabia 101 


CONTENTS.  VU 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  CRUSADING  POWER  IN 
THE  EAST. 

PAGE 

Pabt  I.  The  Greeks  recover  Constantinople   ....      104 

\       n.  The  Last  Crusade 106 

N  m.  The  Sicilian  Vespers 108 

IV.  The  Free  Cities  of  Italy 112 

V.  The  Loss  of  Acre 115 


CHAPTER  JX. 

THE  PAPACY  AT  AVIGNON. 

Part  i.  State  of  Leaniing 118 

II.  Boniface  VIII 120 

<    lll.T7es!fucroirt)f  the  Order  of  the  Temple      .        .        .123 

rv.  Swiss  Independence 127 

V.  Heinj-ich  and  Johann  of  Luxemburg    :        .        .        .  1^0 
vx  Wai-s  of  Edward  III.  and  Philippe  VI.    .        .        .      182 

vn.  Jean  of  France 186 

vm.  State  of  Italy 189 

IX.  Giovanna  of  Naples 142 

X.  Pedro  the  Cruel 144  ' 

XI.  Loss  of  the  English  Conquests  in  France    .        .        .  147 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  GREAT  SCHISM. 

Past  i.  Tbe^Pope  and  the  Antipope  _^  .       .^  .       .        .      151 

II.  Philippe  v6ii~ArteveTde~. — —7"      o^W'        .        .        .154 

ni.  The  Mad  King     ...       ^J^       .        .        .157 

rv.  German  Affairs  ^^r       ....  160 

V.  The  Council  of  Constance'  ^^^W     ....      164 

CHAPTER  XI. 

GROWTH  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE. 

Part  i.  The  Turks '      ...  167 

n.  Expulsion  of  the  English  from  France     .        .        .      171 
ni.  Good  Kmg  Rene 173 


Vlll  CON^TENTS. 

PAGK 

House  of  Avis     .        .  - 177 

Carlos  of  Kavarre 179 

The  Battle  of  Varna  .        .        .  •     .        .        .        .181 
Fall  of  the. Greek  Empire     .        .      \        .        .        .184 
Conquest  of  Greece    .        .        .        .      '  .        .        .      186 
IX.  Inroads  of  Mahomet  II 189 

CHAPTER  XII. 
EXPULSION  OF  THE  MOORS. 

Part  i.  Charles  the  Bold 193 

Ti.  Louis  XL 196 

in.  The  Inquisition  in  Spain 199 

IV.  The  Conquest  of  Granada 201 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  CUSTQUE-CENTO. 

Part  i.  Ancient  Models 205 

II.  Warfare 208 

III.  The  Discoveiy  of  America 210 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
ITALIAN  WARS. 

Part  i.  Causes  of  the  War  in  Italy 215 

II.  French  Conquest  of  Naples 220 

ni.  Spanish  Conquest  of  Naples 224 

rv.  Italian  Leagues 231 

V.  Battle  of  Ravenna 235 

Genealogical  Tables     .       .       .       .     -.       .       .       .     239 


LANDMARKS  OF  HISTORY. 


MIDDLE   AGES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  FKANK  EMPIKE.    700-987. 

PART  I.       STATE    OF   EUROPE.       VOO-900. 

It  is  in  effect  impossible  to  draw  any  decided  line  between 
the  periods  of  Ancient  and  Mediaivah  history.  We  have 
chosen  to  commence  the  latter  from  the  Battle  of  Tours, 
because  it  was  then  that  the  kingdoms  and  manners  of 
Europe  began  to  assume  somewhat  of  the  form  they  re- 
tained during  the  middle  ages. 

The  ancient  Western  Empire  of  Rome  had,  by  the  year 
700,  entirely  crumbled  away  ;  but  the  Eastern  Empire  still 
existed  at  Constantinople.  The  succession  there  was  as 
irregular  as  it  had  always  been  in  Roman  times.  If  the 
sovereign  left  a  son  able  to  enforce  obedience,  he  usually 
became  emperor  ;  if  not,  some  wily  statesman  or  successful 
soldier  climbed  into  the  throne.  This  uncertainty  rendered 
the  Greek  emperors  so  mistrustful  of  their  generals,  that 
they  never  committed  the  command  of  the  army  into  their 
hands  in  the  absolute  manner  that  was  alone  likely  to  in- 
sure a  victory  ;  they  seemed  to  be  more  afraid  of  their  own 
generals  than  of  the  enemy,  and  thus  no  great  advantages 


2  LANDMAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  I. 

were  ever  gained,  unless  the  emperor  himself  chanced  to  be 
a  man  capable  of  taking  the  command. 

The  free  Greeks  were  also  distrusted,  and  seldom  allowed 
to  enter  the  armies,  which  were  chiefly  composed  of  slaves 
or  barbarians — Bulgarians,  Armenians,  Franks,  or  Goths, 
in  the  pay  of  the  emperor.  Some  of  these  rose  to  high  sta- 
tion, and  in  718,  Leo  the  Isaurian,  belonging  to  a  brave 
nation  of  Asiatic  mountaineers,  rose  to  the  imperial  dignity, 
and  founded  a  family  which  continued  on  the  throne  for 
five  generations.  The  Greek  system  of  government  was 
very  bad;  it  prevented  its  subjects  from  protecting  them- 
selves against  their  enemies,  and  all  it  aimed  at  was,  amass- 
ing treasure  for  the  emperor,  by  tributes  from  all  who 
prospered  either  in  trade  or  in  agriculture.  This  treasure 
was  in  part  hoarded  in  the  vaults  of  the  Blachernal  palace, 
part  was  spent  in  the  pomp  and  luxury  of  the  imperial  court, 
another  portion  maintained  the  army  of  foreigners,  and  an- 
other was  spent  in  distributions  of  corn  gratis,  to  the  idle 
populace  of  Constantinople,  as  had  been  formerly  done  at 
Rome.  They  were  a  clamorous  lazy  race,  devoted  to  the 
shows  of  the  Hippodrome,  and  little  deserved  to  be  main- 
tained at  the  expense  of  the  industry  of  the  rest  of  the 
empire.  With  all  these  defects,  however,  the  Greeks  were 
tlie  chief  preservers  of  the  civilization  and  learning  that 
had  elsewhere  been  almost  swept  away. 

The  Eastern  Empire  consisted,  at  this  time,  of  Greece, 
European  Turkey,  and  Asia  Minor,  as  far  as  the  borders  of 
Syria,  together  with  the  greater  part  of  Italy. 

Syria,  Persia,  Arabia,  Egypt,  the  north  coast  of  Africa, 
and  all  the  peninsula  of  Spain,  except  the  Asturias,  formed 
the  great  Mahometan  Empire,  subject  to  the  Khalif  of  Da- 
mascus, the  commander  of  the  faithful,  and  representative 
of  tlie  prophet.  These  Arabs  had  adopted  a  great  degree 
of  civilization,  and  had  become  very  learned  from  the  study 
of  the  writings  of  the  Greeks.  Astronomy,  medicine,  and 
mathematics  were  pursued  by  them,  and  many  discoveries 
are  owing  to  them,  as  we  are  reminded  by  our  Arabic 
figures,  the  Eastern  name  of  algebra,  the  Arabic  signs  still 
used  for  the  terms  of  apothecaries'  weight,  and  the  appella- 
tions of  many  of  the  stars. 


STATE    OF    EUROPE.  3 

In  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century,  a  great  dispute 
arose  between  the  families  of  the  Abbassides  and  Ommiades : 
this  ended  in  the  Abbassides  obtaining  the  eastern  part  of  the 
Empire  ;  and  Almansor,  the  second  monarch  of  this  family, 
founded  on  the  shores  of  the  Euphrates,  not  tar  from  the 
ruins  of  ancient  Babylon,  the  city  of  Bagdad,  a  name  which 
means  the  city  of  Peace.  Abderrahaman,  one  of  the  Om- 
miades, having  almost  miraculously  escaped  from  the 
massacre  of  his  family,  was  called  to  Cordova,  where  his 
descendants  ruled,  during  nearly  three  hundred  years,  over 
Spain  and  Western  Africa.  A  third  Mahometan  power, 
the  Fatimites,  established  themselves  in  Egypt.  All  three 
monarchs  claimed  equally  the  title  of  Khalif,  or  vicegerent 
of  God,  while  they  were  bitter  enemies  of  each  other. 

The  Sclavonic  nations,  Bulgarians,  Huns,  and  Avars,  oc- 
cupied the  East  of  Europe,  from  the  Danube  northward, 
and  were  dangerous  enemies  to  all  tlieir  neighbors.  It  is 
from  their  national  name  of  Slaves,  that  our  word  for  a 
bondsman  is  taken,  a  Slave  originally  meaning  a  Sclavonian 
in  captivity  to  a  German.  The  hills  and  moors  of  Scotland, 
Wales,  and  Brittany  were  the  refuge  of  the  still  unsubdued 
Kelts ;  all  the  rest  of  Europe  was  under  the  dominion  of 
different  branches  of  the  great  Teutonic  race. 

Of  these,  the  northern  tribes,  living  in  Scandinavia,  were 
the  most  savage,  and  had  not  yet  heard  of  Christianity. 
Their  southern  neighbors,  the  Saxons,  Swabians,  and 
other  tribes,  generally  included  under  the  name  of  Alle- 
manni,  or  Germans  (all  men),  were  beginning  to  receive  a 
few  lessons  from  missionaries  sent  from  Italy,  France,  and 
Britain.  The  English  Wilfred,  called  in  Latin  St.  Boniface, 
is  revered  as  one  of  their  first  apostles.  The  Angles  and 
Saxons  of  Britain,  the  Franks  of  Gaul,  the  Goths  of  Spain, 
and  the  Lombards  of  Italy,  had  long  been  fully  Christian- 
ized. 

The  countries  subject  to  these  Teutonic  tribes  were  still 
chiefly  inhabited  by  the  old  Keltic  population,  speaking  a 
language  resembling  Latin.  These  were  despised  by  their 
masters,  who  turned  their  once  highly  honored  title  of 
Koman  into  a  term  of  reproach,  and  set  a  far  lower  price 
on   the  life  of  one  of  these  serfs,  as  they  were  esteemed, 


4  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  I. 

than  on  that  of  a  free  Teuton,  a  Freiherr,  or  free  lord,  as  he 
called  himself  in  Germany,  or  in  France  and  Italy,  a  baron, 
or  man.  He  could  be  judged  only  by  the  laws  of  his  own 
conquering  nation,  and  thus  arose  the  orders  of  nobility 
with  their  privileges. 

There  were  more  of  the  Romanized  Gauls  in  Southern 
France  than  anywhere  else,  and  the  king  committed  the 
charge  of  them,  as  well  as  of  Burgundy,  to  great  chieftains, 
called  in  Latin,  duces,  or  dukes,  a  translation  of  their  native 
title  Heer  Zog,  the  leader  of  a  host.  The  cities  governed 
themselves  after  the  old  Roman  fashion,  but  each  of  them 
had  in  addition  a  chieftain  from  among  their  conquerors 
called  a  Graff,*  or  judge,  and  in  Latin  comes,  count,  the 
companion  or  peer  of  the  duke  his  employer.  It  was  a  for- 
tunate city  that  had  its  bishop  for  its  count. 

The  counts  of  border  cities  were  called  Mark  Grafs,  counts 
of  the  Marches,  and  the  title  became  marchese  or  marquis, 
in  Italy,  where  the  Lombard  kings  had  their  possessions 
much  intermixed  with  those  of  the  Greek  emperor,  so  that 
there  were  many  of  these  lords  of  the  mark  or  boundary. 

Indeed,  the  Lombards  for  the  most  part  owned  the  open 
country,  and  the  emperor  the  towns,  where  his  authority 
was  however  but  little  felt.  The  Venetians,  the  Romans, 
and  several  other  cities,  called  him  their  master,  but  really 
ruled  themselves ;  and  the  southern  extremity  of  Italy,  once 
called  Magna  Grecia,  was  under  a  Greek  governor  termed 
the  catapan.  The  Venetians  were  Romanized  Gauls,  who 
liad  been  driven  from  their  homes  in  Northern  Italy  by 
the  inroads  of  Attila,  and  who  had  souglit  refuge  in  the 
marshy  islands  of  the  northern  part  o^the  Adriatic. 

*  From  Tufen^  to  call,  because  he  summoned  criminals  before  liim  ; 
the  same  word  as  in  Saxon,  Reeve,  whence  comes  Sheriff,  the  Shu-e- 
reeve,  judge  of  the  county. 


THE    CilUECH    OF    THE    EIGHTH    CENTURY. 


PART  II.       THE    CHURCH    OF    THE    EIGHTH    CENTURY. 

680-775. 

The  sixth  and  last  General  Council  of  the  Church  was  held 
in  680,  to  consider  of  the  Monothelite  heresy,  a  doctrine 
incompatible  with  the  belief  in  the  two  natures  of  our 
Blessed  Lord.  It  was  here  condemned,  and  the  Pope, 
Honorius,  was  by  the  authority  of  the  Council  deposed,  for 
haviuf?  received  tO  Communion  those  who  professed  it. 

It  had  been  for  many  years  the  custom  to  adorn  churches 
with  pictures  and  images,  both  for  the  sake  of  their  beauty 
and  as  aids  to  devotion.  Of  late,  honor  had  been  paid 
these  figures  hardly  consistent  with  Scripture ;  and  in  727, 
the  Greek  emperor  Leo  the  Isaurian,  resolving  to  effect  a 
reformation,  published  an  edict  against  the  use  of  images. 
He  was  in  consequence  called  the  Ikonoklast,  meaning  in 
Greek,  the  image-breaker. 

The  clergy  and  people  resisted  his  command,  and  in  Italy 
it  was  entirely  disregarded  by  Pope  Gregory  II.,  but  at 
Constantinople,  Leo  forced  the  Patriarch  to  resign,  replaced 
him  by  another  favorable  to  his  own  views,  overthrew  the 
images,  and  removed  the  figures  extended  on  the  Crosses, 
though  leaving  the  sign  of  Redemption  untouched. 

The  people  resisted,  and  a  persecution  ensued.  Leo  was 
violent ;  and  his  son  Constantine  V.  was  so  cruel,  that  he 
caused  a  rebellion,  and  has  ever  since  been  held  in  detesta- 
tion for  his  profaneness  and  barbarity. 

It  is  difficult  to  judge  who  was  in  the  right.  The  honor 
paid  to  images  was,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  leading  the  igno- 
rant into  idolatry,  and  ought  to  have  been  repressed,  but  at 
the  same  time  the  Ikonoklast  emperors  acted,  in  many  re- 
spects, so  improperly,  that  no  one  can  be  surprised  at  the 
part  taken  by  the  clergy.  After  120  years,  the  controversy 
was  set  at  rest  in  the  Eastern  Church,  by  an  edict  permitting 
the  use  of  pictures,  but  forbidding  that  of  carved  images. 
The  Roman  Church,  on  the  other  hand,  maintained  that 
reverence  was  to  be  paid  alike  to  paintings  and  images, 
and  thus  arose  the  first  serious  dispute  between  the  East  and 
West.  The  Italians  were  greatly  alienated  from  the  em- 
peror, and  ready  to  give  themselves  to  another  master. 


6  LANDMAEKS    OF    HISTOEY.  [  'HAP.  I. 

At  the  same  time  the  Popes  and  Western  clergy  were 
promoting  a  practice  of  entreating  the  intercession  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  and  the  Saints,  which  was  fast  becoming 
actual  praying  to  them,  as  if  they  could  by  their  own 
power  grant  what  was  asked.  The  graves  and  relics  of  holy 
persons  had  always  been  regarded  by  Christians  with  great 
reverence,  and  it  had  been  sometimes  believed  that  miracles 
had  been  wrought  by  their  touch.  This  again  became  an 
occasion  of  error.  Kelics  were  sought  after  as  a  sort  of 
charm,  able  to  protect  him  who  carried  them  from  evil,  and 
it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  read  of  crimes  being  committed 
in  order  to  obtain  possession  of  them.  The  most  memo- 
rable instance  of  this  kind  was  the  body  of  St.  Mark,  which 
was  stolen  by  night  from  the  Christians  of  Alexandria  and 
carried  to  Venice.  Thenceforward  the  Venetians  deemed 
themselves  the  especial  care  of  the  Evangelist,  fancied  lie 
worked  miracles  in  their  favor,  took  the  winged  lion  for 
their  badge,  and  called  their  State  the  Republic  of  St.  M^rk. 

PART   III.       EEIGN    OF    CHAELEMAGNE.       768-814. 

The  earliest  race  of  Frank  kings  were,  as  we  have  said, 
called  Salic,  from  the  river  Saale,  and  Merovingian,  from 
Meerwig,  their  first  ancestor  of  note.  Another  name  for 
them  was  the  long-haired,  and  a  less  creditable  one  was 
Mois  Faineants^  do-nothing  kings,  for,  as  they  laid  aside 
their  ferocity,  they  became  dull,  luxurious,  and  indolent. 

The  Eastern  or  Austrasian  Franks  maintained  an  officer 
at  Soissons  to  support  their  interest.  He  was  termed  the 
Maire-du-palais,  or  master  of  the  household,  and  became  in 
fact  the  ruler  of  the  kingdom.  Pepin  I'Heristal,  a  Frank 
from  the  banks  of  the  Moselle,  was  the  first  noted  Maire- 
du-palais,  and  his  son  Karl,  or  Charles,  was  the  same 
who  in  732  saved  Christendom  by  his  victory  at  Tours,  and 
there  acquired  the  surname  of  Martel,  the  hammer  of  the 
Saracens. 

Charles  Martel  had  all  the  power  of  a  king,  and  his  son, 
Pepin-le-bref,  who  succeeded  him  in  741,  obtained  from 
Pope  Zaccaria  permission  to  assume  the  crown  of  France, 
as  a  reward  for  protecting  Rome  from  Astolfo,  king  of  the 


KEIGN^    OF    CHAELEMAGXE.  7 

Lombards.  He  was  raised  on  the  shields  of  the  Franks  at 
Soissons,  proclaimed  their  king,  and  anointed  with  the 
holy  oil ;  and  in  return  for  the  Pope's  support,  he  promised 
the  See  of  Rome  the  sovereignty  of  the  city,  which  he  had 
no  more  right  to  bestow  than  Zaccaria  had  to  give  him  the 
crown  of  France. 

The  dynasty  thus  founded  was  called  the  Carlovingian, 
from  Carolus,  the  Latin  for  Charles.  It  was  the  com- 
mencement of  the  empire  of  Germany,  as  well  as  of  the 
kingdom  of  France. 

In  768,  Charles,  the  son  of  Pepin,  commenced  his  glori- 
ous reign.  He  was  a  great  conqueror,  subduing  the  hea- 
then Saxons  of  East  and  Westphalia,  and  extending  his 
conquests  as  far  as  the  borders  of  Hungary.  Wherever  he 
went  he  spread  the  knowledge  of  Christianity,  and  pro- 
moted the  welfare  of  the  Church.  In  Germany,  he  com- 
mitted the  care  of  his  new  domains  to  bishops,  whom  he 
made  equal  in  temporal  power  to  his  counts  and  dukes, 
thinking  them  more  likely  to  civilize  the  wild  heathens 
than  his  fierce  and  ambitious  nobility  would  be. 

Charles  only  met  with  one  serious  misadventure.  He 
had  invaded  Spain,  and  subdued  it  as  far  as  the  banks  of 
the  P^bro.  The  Gothic  Christians  of  the  Asturias  thought 
this  an  attack  on  their  rights,  and  instead  of  making  com- 
mon cause  against  the  Moors,  Fruela,  king  of  the  Asturias, 
and  liiigo  Garcias,  first  king  of  Navarre,  fell  on  the  rear  of 
his  army  in  the  narrow  pass  of  Roncesvalles  in  the  Pyre- 
nees, and  made  a  great,  slaughter.  Among  the  slain  was 
Roland,  count  of  the  Marclies  of  Brittany,  and  tradition 
declares  that  it  was  a  blast  from  his  horn,  blown  with  his 
last  breath,  that  brought  to  King  Charles  the  first  tidings 
of  the  combat. 

The  Abbassid  Khalif  at  Bagdad,  Haroun  al  Raschid, 
was  an  enemy  to  the  Ommeiyad  khalif  at  Cordova,  and 
therefore  was  rejoiced  to  hear  of  Charles's  invasion  of  Spain. 
An  embassy  was  despatched  from  Bagdad,  bringing  as 
presents  to  Charles,  an  elephant,  and  the  first  clock  ever 
seen  in  Europe.  But  far  more  valuable  than  these,  were 
the  keys  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  which  Haroun  sent  him  as 
a  homage  to  the  most  powerful  Christian  sovereign.     The 


8  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  I. 

hours  were  struck  by  two  little  figures,  and  water  was  em- 
ployed to  move  the  works.  These  two  princes,  Charles 
and  Haroun,  are  equally  celebrated  in  the  legendary  lore 
of  their  countries ;  the  Frank  in  the  romances  of  chivalry, 
and  the  khalif  in  the  tales  called  the  "Arabian  Nights." 

Another  ally  of  Charles  was  Irene,  the  Greek  empress, 
and  her  son  Constantine,  the  last  of  the  Isaurian,  or  Ikono- 
klast  family.  One  of  their  presents  was  a  set  of  chessmen 
dressed  in  the  Greek  fashion,  which  till  the  last  century 
were  preserved  in  the  abbey  of  St.  Denis. 

A  new  dispute  broke  out  between  the  Pope  and  the  King 
of  Lombardy,  and  Charles  was  called  in  to  settle  it.  He 
conquered  Desiderio,  the  last  king  of  Lombardy,  at  Pavia, 
made  him  prisoner,  and  assumed  his  crown,  thus  becoming 
master  of  the  whole  of  Italy,  excepting  Magna  Grecia. 
Pope  Adrian  appointed  Charles  senator  or  governor  of 
Rome ;  and  in  the  year  800,  Leo  III.,  the  successor  of 
Adrian,  summoned  him  to  quell  a  sedition  of  the  Romans. 
As  a  reward  for  his  assistance,  Leo  offered  to  crown  him 
emperor  of  the  West,  a  title  which  had  never  yet  been 
borne  by  any  but  a  Roman. 

It  was  considered  that  the  right  of  election  of  an  empe- 
ror belonged  to  the  Roman  people,  and  that  the  Pope  repre- 
sented them,  and  thus  was  revived  the  old  imperial  power 
that  had  fallen  in  Romulus  Augustulus.  The  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  as  it  was  thenceforward  termed,  consisted,  in 
Charles's  time,  of  Italy  as  far  as  Magna  Grecia,  excepting 
Venice  and  Ravenna;  of  Germany  and  France;  and  of 
Spain,  as  far  as  the  Ebro,  save  the  two  little  kingdoms  of 
tlie  Asturias  and  Narvarre.  Its  capital  was  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle.  It  was  a  mighty  man  who  was  able  to  unite  and 
govern  all  these  realms,  and  Charles  well  deserved  his  title 
of  the  Great,  le  Magne,  as  it  was  called  in  the  French- 
Latin  of  that  period. 

Church  and  State  went  hand  in  hand  in  his  time,  and 
the  clergy  did  their  best  to  soften  and  tame  the  rude 
Franks,  and  compose  their  disputes.  Many  schools  were 
founded  by  the  emperor,  and  he  was  the  most  diligent 
scholar  in  his  own  domains.  Alcuin,  a  learned  English 
monk,  was  the  instructor  of  the  young  princes,  and  often 


BKEAKIXG    Ur    OF    CIIAKLEMAGNE'S    EMPIRE.  9 

of  the  emperor  himself.  Charles  could  speak  both  the 
Latin  and  Frank  tongues,  and  liad  leai-nt  Greek.  He  was 
fond  of  reading,  and  his  favorite  book  was  St.  Augustin's 
"  City  of  God ;"  he  took  also  much  interest  in  astronomy, 
and  reckoning  the  courses  of  the  stars.  His  talent  for  cal- 
culation must  indeed  have  been  great,  for  he  was  neither 
acquainted  with  the  Arabic  figures,  nor  could  he  write 
with  ease,  not  having  learned  in  his  youth,  so  that  though 
he  carried  tablets  in  his  bosom,  and  practised  at  leisure 
moments,  he  never  grew  familiar  with  the  art. 

His  meals  were  very  plain  and  frugal,  and  his  dress 
extremely  simple.  It  is  said  that  he  liked  to  play  his 
courtiers  a  trick  by  making  them  ride  after  him  through 
muddy  fields  in  rainy  weather,  till  all  their  gay  garments 
were  spoilt,  and  then  showing  them  his  own  sober  sheep- 
skin cloak  unhurt.  He  was  a  tall  handsome  man,  with  a 
remarkably  long  neck,  well  becoming  his  robes,  which 
could  be  splendid  on  state  occasions.  His  moral  character 
was  not  in  eveiy  respect  perfect,  but  in  general  he  showed 
himself  a  pious,  high-minded,  and  excellent  prince,  just 
and  devout,  and  meriting  the  next  place  to  Alfred  in  the 
list  of  great  and  good  sovereigns.  On  the  last  evening  of 
bis  life,  he  was  engaged  in  comparing  the  Latin  with  the 
Greek  and  Syriac  versions  of  the  Scriptures.  He  died  in 
814,  in  his  seventy-second  year,  after  a  reign  of  forty-seven 
years. 

PART   IV.       BREAKING    UP    OF    CHARLEMAGNE's    EMPIRE. 

814-932.  . 

Charlemagxe's  great  empire  soon  fell  to  pieces  after  his 
death.  He  left  but  one  son,  Ludwig,  called,  in  French, 
Louis  le  Debonnaire,  or  the  amiable,  from  his  pious,  gentle, 

/but  rather  weak  disposition.  The  nations  held  together 
by  Charles's  firm  hand,  now  fell  apart  from  each   other ; 

'the  Franks  hated  the  Germans,  the  Lombards  abhorred 
the  Franks'  rule,  and  the  old  divisions  between  the  south- 
ern Roman  Gauls  of  Aquitaine  and  the  northern  Franks 
revived  again.  Each  party  set  up  a  son  of  the  emperor  at 
its  head,  and  these  turbulent  young  men  were  but  too  glad 

1* 


10  LANDMARKS    OF    IIISTOEY.  [CHAP.  I. 

to  avail  themselves  of  such  support  against  their  father, 
who  was  harassed  all  his  life  by  their  rebellions.  At  one 
time  all  the  nobles  who  pretended  to  be  on  his  side  went 
over  to  his  sons  at  a  place  near  Colmar,  which  has  in  con- 
sequence been  called  the  Field  of  Falsehood;  and  at  last, 
in  840,  Louis  died,  quite  worn  out  with  trouble. 

The  empire  was  completely  broken  up.  Lothaire,  his 
eldest  son,  was  crowned  by  the  Pope  as  emperor,  or  as  the 
Franks  called  him.  Kaiser  or  Caesar,  and  took  possession  of 
Italy,  and  the  country  reaching  northward  from  the  Alps 
as  far  as  the  Meuse  and  Moselle,  which  was  called  from  his 
name  the  Lotharrik,  and  still  is  known  as  Lorraine.  Lud- 
wig,  the  second  son,  was  King  of  Germany,  and  Charles, 
the  youngest,  called  le  chauve^  or  the  Bald,  was  King  of 
France. 

Quarrels  continued  between  these  brothers  and  their 
descendants,  on  which  it  is  needless  to  dwell.  Lothaire 
died  childless,  immediately  after  taking  a  false  oath  before 
the  Pope,  and  first  Ludwig,  and  afterward  Charles,  ob- 
tained the  title  of  emperor.  In  911  died  the  grandson  of 
Ludwig,  bearing  the  same  name,  uj^on  which  the  Germans 
chose  as  their  king  a  noble  of  their  own  nation,  Konrad, 
Count  of  Franconia. 

The  weakness  and  dissensions  of  the  Carlovingian  princes 
enabled  the  Saracens  to  renew  their  attacks  in  Europe; 
they  recovered  what  they  had  lost  in  Spain,  conquered  the 
island  of  Sicily,  and  many  small  towns  in  Magna  Grecia, 
and  in  847  appearing  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  threatened 
Rome  itself. 

The  Pope  was  at  this  time  lately  dead,  and  the  Romans 
assembling  in  haste,  elected  to  succeed  him  a  priest  named 
Leo,  the  person  most  fit  to  protect  them  in  their  danger. 
The  enemy  did  not  at  that  time  attempt  to  take  the  city, 
but  sailed  away  after  plundering  the  churches  without  the 
walls  ;  and  no  sooner  were  they  gone  than  Leo  fortified  the 
city,  so  that  it  should  be  able  to  resist  all  further  attacks, 
and  increased  the  flcQt,  which  he  himself  commanded  when 
the  Saracens  next  appeared  on  the  coast.  He  defeated 
them,  and  Rome  was  thus  secured. 

This  Leo  IV.  was  an  excellent  man,  but  since  the  tern- 


BREAKIXG    UP    OF    CIlAllLEMAGNE  S    EMPIRE.  11 

poral  power  over  Rome  had  been  conferred  by  Charle- 
magne on  the  Popes,  their  office  had  been  looked  upon 
more  as  that  of  a  prince,  or  count,  than  of  a  bishop,  and  it 
was  coveted  by  very  unfit  persons.  The  great  families  of 
Rome  employed  both  threats,  bribery,  and  even  murder 
and  treachery,  to  obtain  the  papacy  for  their  sons,  and 
during  the  next  century  and  a  half  most  of  the  Popes  were 
disgraceful  characters. 

AH  this  time,  the  little  State  of  Venice  was  going  on 
prosperously,  and  commencing  a  trade  with  Constantinople, 
which  brought  her  much  advantage.  In  the  year  697,  the 
citizens  had,  for  the  first  time,  elected  a  governor,  called  a 
duke,  or  doge,  with  much  the  same  powers  as  a  Roman 
dictator,  and  which,  at  this  period,  he  kept  for  life. 

It  was  not  till  932  that  the  Venetians  performed  their 
first  warlike  exploit,  which  was  indeed  caused  by  a  great 
provocation.  Candlemas-day,  February  2d,  was  the  time 
chosen  by  the  Venetians  for  their  weddings,  and  it  was 
usual  for  all  the  bridal  parties  to  unite,  and  go  together  in 
procession  in  their  gondolas  to  the  Church  of  St.  Mark, 
with  all  the  gifts  and  jewels  of  the  brides  displayed.  Some 
daring  pirates  of  the  coast  of  Istria  contrived  to  hide  them- 
selves behind  some  sand-banks  until  the  procession  had 
passed  by,  then  rushing  into  the  cathedral,  snatched  away 
the  brides,  seized  their  jewels,  threw  them  into  their  boats, 
and  sailed  away  with  them. 

Furious  at  the  outrage,  the  bridegrooms,  the  fathers,  and 
all  the  citizens,  flew  to  arms,  hurried  to  their  boats,  and 
with  the  Doge  Candiano  at  their  head,  pursued  the  enemy, 
overtook  them,  slew  every "  man  of  them,  rescued  the 
brides,  and  not  content  with  this,  proceeded  to  Istria,  and 
cleared  the  whole  peninsula  from  pirates.  In  memory  of 
that  day  a  dowry  was  given  by  the  State  every  year  to 
twelve  maidens,  who  were  conducted  in  grand  procession 
to  be  married  in  the  church  of  St.  Mark. 

L I  B  R  A^Ty^ 

UNIVERSITY  OF 


.    CALIFORNIA.  . 


12  LANDMAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [ciIAP.  II. 

PART  V.       NORTHERN  INVASIONS.       800-912. 

The  last  of  the  swarms  of  the  Teutonic  nations  had  begun 
to  rush  clown  from  the  north  upon  Europe,  even  in  the  time 
of  Charlemagne  himself 

Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark  were  inhabited  by  a  race 
possessing  the  same  characteristics  as  their  southern  breth- 
ren, likewise  claiming  a  descent  from  Odin,  and  speaking 
the  Teutonic  language. 

They  were  governed  by  a  number  of  small  kings,  and 
other  chieftains  called  earls,  and  the  lower  ranks  of  land- 
holders were  called  bonders.  The  habitable  part  of  the 
country  was  divided  into  the  estates  of  these  bonders, 
whose  wealth  consisted  in  corn,  land,  cattle,  and  ships,  and 
who  lived  in  large  low  wooden  houses  on  the  shores  of  the 
little  narrow  bays,  or  fiords,  with  which  the  coast  of  i^Tor- 
way  is  indented.  The  king  had  no  palace,  but  lived  by 
turns  with  his  bonders,  at  their  expense,  and  gave  his  chil- 
dren to  be  fostered  or  brought  up  by  them.  No  king  could 
expect  to  reign,  no  earl  to  command,  scarcely  a  bonder  to 
enjoy  his  farm  peaceably,  till  he  had  proved  his  courage  by 
a  roving  expedition  by  sea,  and  brought  home  a  share  of 
the  spoil.  The  chieftains  of  the  fleets  of  "long  keels" 
were  called  sea-kings,  and  great  numbers  sailed  under  their 
command. 

Plunder,  slaughter,  and  fire  marked  the  course  of  these 
vikings  or  pirates,  and  great  was  the  terror  with  which  they 
were  everywhere  regarded.  "  From  the  fury  of  the  North- 
man, good  Lord,  deliver  us,"  was  a  petition  in  the  Litany 
used  for  many  years.  Churches  and  monasteries  were  the 
especial  objects  of  their  attacks,  both  for  the  sake  of  their 
wealth,  and  because  they  thought  the  Christians  of  Teu- 
tonic .blood  apostates  from  Odin's  worship.  For  a  long 
time  no  army  was  able  to  resist  them ;  and  there  were  some 
of  them  who  were  called  Berserkars,  who,  by  the  use  of  in- 
toxicating drinks  and  other  means  of  excitement,  could 
work  themselves  up  into  a  state  of  frenzy  in  which  nothing 
could  withstand  them ;  they  broke  the  strongest  armor, 
snapped  the  point  of  the  toughest  weapon s,%nd  were  un- 
ponscious  of  woiin4s»  \ 


NORTHERX   I>?-YASIOXS.  13 

Scotland  suffered  greatly  from  their  ravages ;  and  in  Ire- 
land, once  the  isle  of  saints,  ahnost  every  trace  of  civiliza- 
tion was  swept  away.  After  many  inroads  on  the  coasts  of 
England,  the  famous  sea-king,  Ragnar  Lodbrog,  was  made 
prisoner  and  put  to  death  in  Northumbria ;  and  his  sons  in 
revenge  made  the  dreadful  invasion  which  was  finally  re- 
pulsed by  the  -great  King  Alfred,  the  first  monarch  who 
was  able  to  gain  a  victory  over  them.  At  the  same  time 
France  was  overrun  by  them ;  Paris  was  twice  piHaged  in 
the  reign  of  Charles  the  Bald ;  and  some,  under  the  gui- 
dance of  the  much  dreaded  sea-king,  Hastings,  even  entered 
the  Mediterranean,  and  plundered  the  churches  on  the 
coast  of  Italy. 

Attempts  were  made  to  bring  these  Northmen  to  receive 
holy  Baptism,  and  then  to  send  them  away  mth  gifts, 
after  making  them  promise  to  refrain  from  further  piracy, 
l5ut  the  expedient  was  tiied  too  often  and  too  lightly. 
There  is  a  story  of  an  old  sea-king  who,  when  coming  in 
this  manner  to  be  baptized  and  to  receive  presents,  exclaimed 
on  finding  that  there  was  not  a  sufficiency  of  white  robes 
for  the  supposed  converts — "  I  have  been  washed  nine  times 
before,  and  till  now  I  have  always  been  treated  with  honor 
and  clad  in  fair  white  garments." 

About  the  year  900  Harald  of  Norway  vowed  that  he 
would  never  cut  his  hair  till  he  had  subdued  all  the  other 
petty  kings  in  that  country,  and  during  his  wars  with  them 
he  was,  in  consequence,  called  Horrid-locks.  When  he  found 
himself  victorious,  he  caused  his  friend  Earl  Rognwald  to 
trim  his  shaggy  hair,  and  thenceforth  was  called  Harfagre, 
or  the  fair-haired.  He  then  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  the 
piracy  of  his  subjects,  banishing  all  who  would  not  give  up 
their  roving  habits. 

The  sons  of  his  friend  Rognwald  early  fell  under  the  sen- 
tence. Thorer,  the  younger,  sailed  to  Iceland,  and  there 
founded  a  colony ;  while  Rollo,  the  elder,  called  Rollo  the 
Ganger,  or  walker,  proceeded  to  the  south  with  other  ban- 
ished vikings,  intending  to  conquer  a  new  domain.  He  en- 
tered the  m^h  of  the  Seine  and  took  possession  of  Rouen, 
where  he  Sj^it  the  winter  of  each  year,  employing  the 
summer  in  ravaging  France,  till  at  last  the  king,  Charles 


14  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [ciIAP.  I. 

the  Simple,  as  the  only  hope  of  obtaining  peace,  promised 
to  .give  him  the  province  of  ISTeustria  as  a  fief,  provided  he 
would  become  a  Christian. 

Kollo  was  baptized  at  Rouen,  in  912.  He  had  then  to 
pay  homage  to  King  Charles  by  kneeling  before  him,  kissing 
his  foot,  and  swearing  to  pay  him  allegiance.  Kollo  took 
the  oath,  but  nothing  would  induce  him  to  perform  the 
rest  of  the  ceremony,  and  he  appointed  one  of  his  followers 
to  do  homage  in  his  stead.  The  Northman,  as  proud  as 
his  master,  wilfully  misunderstood,  and  instead  of  kneeling, 
lifted  the  poor  king's  foot  up  to  reach  his  mouth,  so  as  to 
upset  king  and  throne  together  amid  the  rude  laughter  of  his 
Ciiuntrymen. 
C  Neustria  took  the  name  of  Normandy,  and  was  divided 
/by  RoUo  into  a  number  of  fiefs,  which  he  gave  to  his  fol- 
^  lowers.  They  adopted  the  manners  of  the  people  amon^ 
whom  they  lived,  and  an  earnest  spirit  of  devotion  aro^ 
among  them,  which  soon  made  these  once  wild  Northmen 
the  noblest  and  best,  as  well  as  the  bravest,  of  the  people 
of  France. 

PART  VI.     DETHRONEMENT  OP  THE  CARLOVINGIANS. 

911-987. 

At  the  death  of  Konrad  of  Franc®nia,  King  of  Germany, 
he  recommended  Ileinrich,  Duke  of  Saxony,  as  his  successor, 
and  desired  his  brother  to  carry  him  the  royal  ornaments. 

This  Pleinrich,  called  the  Fowler,  was  an  able  and  excel- 
lent prince ;  and  his  son  Otho,  who  succeeded  him,  was  also 
a  great  and  good  man. 

The  Lombard  kingdom  in  the  north  of  Italy  had  fixllen 
into  great  confusion,  and  Huns  from  the  north,  and  Sara- 
cens from  the  south,  perpetually  overran  and  pillaged  the 
miserable  country.  The  last  king,  Lothaire,  was  poisoned 
by  Beranger,  Marchese  d'lvrea,  who  tried  to  compel  his 
widow,  the  beautiful  and  excellent  Adelaide,  to  marry  his 
own  son.  Adelaide,  by  the  help  of  a  faithful  monk,  con- 
trived to  escape  his  power,  and  travelling  ^v  niglit,  and 
hiding  herself  in  standing  corn  or  in  reeds  Hday,  slic  at 
length  succeeded  in  joinhig  some  faithful  friends,  who,  as 


DETHKONEMEXT    OF    THE    CARLOVIXGIANS.  15 

the  only  means  of  protecting  her  from  Beranger,  sent  to 
ask  the  aid  of  Otho  of  Germany,  promising  him  her  hand 
and  the  crown  of  Italy. 

Otho  willingly  obeyed  the  summons,defeated  the  Marchese, 
married  Adelaide,  and  was  crowned  king  of  Italy.  Find- 
ing that  his  new  subjects  were  too  remote  for  him  to  be  al- 
w^ays  at  hand  to  protect  them,  he  resolved  to  make  them 
their  own  defenders ;  and  with  this  end,  permitted  the  towns 
to  raise  fortifications,  caused  the  citizens  to  bear  arms,  and 
allowed  them  to  carry  on  the  government  within  the  walls 
according  to  any  form  they  chose,  provided  they  owned  his 
supremacy. 

The  dreadful  corruption  of  the  Papacy  next  occupied 
Otho.  Two  wicked  women,  mother  and  daughter,  named 
Theodora  and  Marozia,  had  for  many  years  the  nomination 
of  the  Pope  entirely  in  their  hands,  and  made  the  most  dis- 
graceful use  of  it.  Marozia's  grandson,  John  XII.,  became 
Pope  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  was  guilty  of  such 
crimes,  that  the  people  elected  another  in  his  place.  John 
appealed  to  Otho,  who  coming  to  Kome,  called  a  council  to 
inquire  into  the  case,  and  as  neither  had  been  rightly  elected, 
and  both  were  very  unfit  persons,  he  deposed  them,  and 
caused  Leo  VIII.  to  be  elected  in  their  stead.  This  was  in 
965,  and  from  that  time  the  German  princes  frequently  in- 
terfered to  repress  the  disorders  at  Rome. 

In  the  mean  tinie  the  Carlovingian  line  in  France  was 
fast  decaying,  and  another  line  rising  into  power.  It  would 
seem  that  the  French,  as  we  may  begin  to  call  them — the 
people,  that  is,  of  mixed  Gallic  and  Roman  blood,  who  in- 
habited the  district  north  of  the  Loire  and  Meuse — regarded 
the  Carlovingian  kings  as  a  foreign  dynasty,  and  w^ere  always 
rising  against  them  ;  and  after  Charlemagne,  the  kings 
themselves  were  weak  and  foolish  men.  Charles  the  Simple 
was,  after  a  long  course  of  folly  on  his  own  part,  and  rebel- 
lion on  that  of  his  subjects,  secretly  put  to  death  at  Peronne 
in  Burgundy;  his  widow  fled  with  her  son  Louis  to  her 
brother.  King  Ethelstane,  in  England ;  and  Rodolf,  Duke 
of  Burgundy, -reigned  in  France  till  936. 

In  the  mean  time  Hugh,  called  the  White,  Count  of  Paris, 
was  fast  becoming  very  powerful,  and  w^as  so  much  loved 


16  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTOEY.  [CHAP.  I. 

on  account  of  his  French  origin,  and  his  amiable  and  gen- 
erous temper,  that  he  might  easily  have  obtained  the  crown 
on  the  death  of  Rodolf.  He  chose  rather  to  recall  the  right 
heir,  Louis  lY.,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  brave  and  pious 
William  Longsword,  second  Duke  of  Normandy,  he  brought 
the  young  king  back  from  Paris,  and  set  him  on  his 
throne. 

Louis  proved  ungrateful ;  he  was  jealous  of  the  power  of 
the  Normans ;  and  when  in  942  Duke  William  was  treach- 
erously murdered  by  the  Count  of  Flanders,  the  king  seized 
on  his  only  child,  Richard,  a  boy  of  eight,  and  carried  him 
oif  to  Laon,  where  he  was  kept  a  prisoner,  until  he  was 
saved  by  a  faithful  Norman,  who  carried  him  past  the 
guards,  hidden  in  a  bundle  of  hay.  As  soon  as  his  escape 
became  known,  Louis  commenced  a  war  against  him,  but 
the  Normans  sent  to  their  northern  kindred  for  aid,  and 
under  the  command  of  Harald  Bluetooth  of  Denmark,  so 
bravely  defended  their  little  duke,  that  they  gained  full 
success,  made  Louis  prisoner,  and  forced  him  to  give  up  his 
unjust  designs. 

In  954  Louis  died  ;  and  his  son  Lothaire  inheriting  his 
hatred  of  the  Normans,  called  in  the  Emperor  Otho  IL, 
with  the  King  of  Burgundy  and  the  Count  of  Flanders,  to 
attack  the  duchy ;  but  they  were  all  driven  back  from  the 
gates  of  Rouen  by  the  gallant  young  duke,  Richard  the 
Fearless,  the  bravest,  most  devout,  and  most  upright  of  the 
princes  of  France.  Count  Hugh  the  White,  of  Paris,  dying 
in  956,  left  his  son  Hugh — called  Capet,  from  the  cap  or 
hood  he  usually  wore — under  the  protection  of  Duke  Rich- 
ard, who  took  such  care  of  his  interests,  that  he  became 
even  more  powerful  than  his  father. 

He  was  of  the  Roman-Gallic,  or  true  French  blood,  and 
was  so  much  more  popular  with  the  whole  nation  tlian  any 
prince  of  the  Carlovingian  line,  that  in  987,  on  the  death  of 
Louis  v.,  son  of  Lothaire,  the  nobles  and  clergy,  with  the 
consent  of  Pope  John  XV.,  proclaimed  him  King  of  France, 
thus  setting  aside  Charles,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  the  second  son 
of  Lothaire.  Hugh  was  thus  the  first  of  the  third,  or  Cape- 
tian,  dynasty,  a  long^  line  of  kings  who  ruled  in  France  for 
nearly  900  years. 


^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF 

CALIFORNIA 


CHAPTER  n. 

GROWTH  OF  THE  PAPAL  POWER    970-1116. 

PART  I.       SCHISM  OF  THE  EASTERN  AND  WESTERN  CHURCHES. 
970-1056. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries,  the 
Christian  faith  was  making  great  progress.  The  rulers  of 
the  wild  and  remote  Sclavonic  race  in  Muscovy  were  con- 
verted by  teachers  from  Constantinople,  and  their  prince, 
Viadimu*,  caused  their  idols  to  be  broken  to  pieces. 
Bohemia,  a  small  Se^avonic  State  shut  in  by  a  belt  of  high 
hills,  and  Poland,  another  small  State,  were  converted 
about  the  same  time ;  and  Geysa,  Waiwode  of  Hungary, 
was  baptized  in  970.  His  son  Stephen  was  the  first  king, 
and  the  great  saint  of  Hungary,  where  his  crown  was  long 
preserved  with  great  reverence. 

The  Northmen  for  the  most  part  continued  heathens; 
but  when  Knute  the  Dane,  after  conquering  England,  em- 
braced the  religion  of  the  Saxons,  some  progress  was  made 
in  spreading  it  in  his  own  country ;  about  the  same  time 
Olaf  of  Norway,  a  sea-king  who  had  come  to  the  aid  of 
Ethelred  the  Unready,  had  been  shipwrecked  on  the  coast 
of  Jersey,  and  there  met  with  a  hermit  who  converted  him 
to  the  true  faith.  He  was  baptized  in  London,  confirmed 
at  Rouen,  and  afterward  returning  to  Norway,  did  all  in 
his  power  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  Christianity.  His 
heathen  subjects  rebelled,  and  Knute,  though  himself  a 
Christian,  assisted  them.  Olaf  was  killed  in  battle,  and 
Noi"way  united  to  Denmark,  but  the  good  seed  he  had  sown 
grew  and  increased,  and  the  whole  of  Scandinavia  was,  in 
name  at  least,  a  Christian  land  by  the  beginning  of  the 
eleventh  century. 

In  the  mean  time,  it  is  sad  to  see  how  much  corruption 
and  division  there  was  at  the  centre  of  Christendom. 

In  the  year  1024,  St.  Heinrich  died,  the  last  German  em- 
peror of  the  House   of  Saxony ;  and  the  House  of  Fran- 


18  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTOKY.  [CHAP.  II. 

conia  was  raised  to  the  throne.  Heinrich  III.,  the  second 
of  this  line,  was,  like  Otho  the  Great,  called  to  Rome  to 
quell  the  disturbances  there,  for  the  city  was  divided  be- 
tween three  Popes,  each  claiming  to  be  the  rightful  succes- 
sor of  St.  Peter.  He  set  them  all  aside,  and  appointed  a 
German  in  their  stead,  who  took  the  name  of  Clement  II. 
During  the  remainder  of  his  reign  he  always  took  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  Pope  into  his  own  hands,  and  though  he 
always  used  the  power  properly,  and  made  a  good  choice,  it 
could  not  be  doubted  that  it  was  a  usurpation,  since  the 
right  of  choosing  a  b'.shop  had  always  belonged  to  the 
clergy,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  sovereign. 

Ever  since  the  days  of  Ikonoklasm  there  had  been  fre- 
quent disputes  between  the  Pope  and  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  each  continually  finding  fault  with  the 
practices  of  the  other.  At  last,  in  the  year  1054,  the  Patri- 
arch Cerularius  wrote  to  one  of  the  Greek  bishops  of  the 
south  of  Italy,  severely  condemning  several  customs  ob- 
served in  the  Latin  service,  and  at  the  same  time  closed 
the  churches  at  Constantinople  in  which  these  were  prac- 
tised. 

Upon  this  Pope  Leo  IX.  sent  three  legates,  or  messen- 
gers, to  Constantinople,  to  attempt  to  come  to  terms ;  but 
it  was  in  vain,  for  they  insisted  on  the  absolute  submission 
of  Cerularius  in  all  respects,  and  he  refused,  consistently 
with  his  rights  as  an  independent  Patriarch.  In  conclusion, 
they  laid  an  act  of  excommunication  on  the  altar  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Sophia,  and  as  they  quitted  tlie  city  they 
shook  off  the  dust  of  their  feet  against  it. 

Thus  unhappily  commenced  the  great  schism  which  has 
ever  since  rent  the  Church,  the  first  division  between  two 
parts  of  the  true  Catholic  Church,  which  had  for  nearly 
ten  centuries  continued  in  complete  union. 

PART   II.       THE   NORMANS   IN   SICILY.       1003-1127. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  extreme  south  of  Italy,  which  had 
since  the  reign  of  Justinian  belonged  to  the  Greek  em- 
perors, were  all  much  more  inclined  to  take  part  with  the 
Western  than  with  the  Eastern  Church,  and  had  little  loy- 


THE    NOEMAXS    IX    SICILY.  19 

alty  or  respect  for  the  government  of  Constantinople.  In- 
deed, they  owed  it  no  gratitude,  for  the  weak  and  hixuri- 
ous  emperors,  occupied  as  they  were  with  wars  with  the 
Bulgarians  and  Turks,  had  no  leisure  to  assist  them  in  their 
struggles  with  the  petty  Lombard  princes,  who  reigned  in- 
dependently in  small  mountain  fastnesses  ;  and  with  the 
Saracens,  who,  from  their  settlements  in  Sicily  and  the 
Balearic  isles,  made  frequent  inroads  on  the  coasts,  and 
plundered  up  to  the  very  gates  of  the  cities. 

It  happened  that  such  an  invasion  took  place  at  Salerno 
in  the  year  1003,  just  when  a  band  of  forty  pilgrims  were 
resting  there  on  their  return  to  Normandy.  Drogo,  the 
chief  of  these  pilgrims,  was  astonished  to  see  the  cowardice 
of  the  Italians,  who  did  not  dare  to  venture  beyond  the 
Avail,  and  taking  the  command  of  his  forty  companions,  Jie 
suddenly  attacked  the  Saracens,  and  speedily  obliged  them 
to  retreat  to  their  ships  with  great  loss. 

The  Salernians,  surprised  at  their  strength  and  valor, 
begged  them  to  remain  and  defend  the  city  ;  and  from  that 
time  forward,  such  Normans  as  grew  weary  of  the  quiet 
rule  of  Duke  llichard  the  Good,  were  sure  to  find  employ- 
ment among  the  little  States  of  Southern  Italy.  The  most 
noted  of  these  adventurers  were  the  twelve  sons  of  Sir 
Tancred  de  Haute ville,  lord  of  a  small  village  in  Norman- 
dy, all  of  whom  were  remarkable  for  their  great  personal 
strength,  and  several  for  their  talent  and  wisdom. 

One  of  their  number,  Robert,  was  called  in  his  own  lan- 
guage Wiseheart,  or  Wizard,  which  the  Italians  corrupted 
into  the  word  Guiscardo.  He  took  the  government  of  the 
little  town  of  Aversa,  their  headquarters,  and  contrived,  by 
seizing  every  advantage,  and  gradually  extending  his  con- 
quest, to  make  himself  master  of  the  whole  province  of 
Apulia. 

The  emperor,  Heinrich  III.,  and  Pope  Leo  IX.,  thinking 
his  progress  alarming,  assembled  an  army,  consisting  partly 
of  Germans  and  partly  of  Roman  towns-people,  of  whom 
the  Pope  took  the  command,  in  spite  of  all  Robert  Guis- 
card's  assurances  that  the  Normans  were  devoted  and  obe- 
dient sons  of  the  Church. 

At  Civitella  the  two  armies  met,  and  no  sooner  did  the 


20  LANDMAIiKS    OF    HISTOKY.  [CHAP.  II. 

^Romans  behold  the  Normans  in  steel  armor,  mounted  on 
tall  heavy  war-horses,  than  they  took  flight,  and  though 
the  Germans  fought  bravely,  they  were  soon  routed,  and 
the  Pope  himself  was  made  prisoner.  He  was  not,  how- 
ever, treated  as  a  captive,  but  as  he  was  led  into  the  camp, 
all  the  ISTormans  fell  on  their  knees  to  ask  his  blessing,  while 
their  leaders,  the  brothers  de  Hauteville,  came  forth  with 
every  demonstration  of  respect,  and  conducted  him  into 
the  town  of  Benevento,  as  if  it  was  his  own  triumphant 
procession.  So  submissive  was  their  behavior,  that  the 
Pope  was  induced  to  regard  them  no  longer  with  enmity, 
and  considering  them  likely  to  become  friends  and  de- 
fenders of  his  See,  he  made  peace  with  them,  granting  to 
Robert  de  Hauteville  all  the  lands  which  he  had  gained  in 
Apulia  and  Calabria,  and  all  he  might  yet  conquer,  thus 
giving  away  the  property  of  the  Greek  emperor,  just  as 
Adrian  I.  had  given  away  Lombardy  to  Charles  le  Magne. 
Taking  advantage  of  this  grant,  Robert  Guiscard  speedily 
established  his  dominion  over  the  greater  part  of  Southern 
Italy,  and  took  the  title  of  Duke  of  Apulia  and  Calabria. 
After  his  conquests  in  Italy,  Robert  did  not  fear  to  attack 
Alexius  Comnenus,  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  Eastern  em- 
perors, wliom  he  defeated  near  Durazzo,  in  Illyria. 

Roger  de  Hauteville,  the  youngest  of  the  brothers,  fought 
for  some  years  under  Robert ;  but  like  him,  he  was  proud, 
wary,  and  ambitious,  and  it  was  not  long  before  a  quarrel 
broke  out  between  them,  and  Roger,  leaving  his  brother, 
took  up  his  abode  in  a  castle  on  the  hills,  and  maintained 
himself  by  robbing  the  passing  travellers.  A  few  Nor- 
mans, discontented  with  Robert,  gathered  round  him,  and 
he  formed  the  design  of  attemj^ting,  with  their  help,  to 
establish  a  principality  in  Sicily,  which  was  then  partly  pos- 
sessed by  the  Greeks  and  partly  by  the  Saracens.  ^ 

His  brave  young  wife,  Eremburga,  accompanied  him  in 
this  expedition,  and  shared  all  his  dangers.  In  the  year 
1064  he  succeeded  in  seizing  the  citadel  of  the  town  of 
Traina,  and  there  during  four  months  he  was  besieged  at 
once  by  the  Greeks  and  Saracens,  and  reduced  to  great  ex- 
tremities by  famine.  He  was  so  poor  that  he  and  his  wife 
had  but  one  mantle  between  them ;  and  when,  in  a  sally, 


THE    NORMANS    IX    ENGLAND.  21 

his  horse  was  killed  under  him,  he  could  so  ill  afford  to  lose 
the  saddle,  that  in  the  face  of  all  the  enemy,  he  proceeded 
coolly  to  unfasten  it,  place  it  on  his  own  shoulders,  and 
carry  it  back  to  the  citadel.  The  winter  was  very  severe, 
and  the  sufferings  of  the  Normans  were  great,  but  they 
were  more  hardy  and  patient  than  their  enemies,  who,  re- 
treating from  the  walls  of  Traina,  left  them  unmolested  till 
more  favorable  weather  should  return.  Roger  took  advan- 
tage of  this  interval  to  go  to  ask  assistance  from  his  brother, 
leaving  Traina  in  charge  of  Eremburga ;  and  so  vigilant 
was  this  brave  lady,  that  every  night  she  went  round  the 
walls  herself  to  visit  the  watch.  Roger  promised  that  if 
his  brother  would  assist  him,  he  would  hold  his  conquests 
as  a  fief  of  the  duchy  of  Apulia ;  and  Robert  accordingly 
led  his  forces  to  his  aid,  conquered  the  Greeks,  took  Paler- 
mo and  the  other  principal  cities,  and  drove  the  Saracens 
into  the  hills.  Roger  tlien  became  Count  of  Sicily,  and 
thus  was  laid  the  foundation  of  the  kingdom  of  Na])les. 
Fifty  years  later,  his  son,  Roger  II.,  by  the  extinction  of  the 
family  of  Robert  Guiscard,  united  in  his  own  person  the 
dignities  of  Duke  of  Apulia  and  Count  of  Sicily.  This 
prince,  after  taking  possession  of  Naples,  made  it  the  cap- 
ital of  his  provinces,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies. 

PART   III.       THE   NORMANS   IN   ENGLAND.       1034-1087. 

The  Normans  were,  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  elev- 
enth century,  the  bravest,  most  enterprising,  and  most  de- 
voted to  the  Church,  of  all  the  European  nations,  and  they 
therefore  enjoyed  much  favor  from  the  Popes. 

Duke  Robert  the  Magnificent,  who  governed  Normandy 
from  1027  to  1034,  was  a  brave  and  gallant  prince,  and  one 
of  the  most  generous  and  openhanded  who  ever  reigned  ; 
-but  the  sins  of  his  early  youth  hung  heavy  on  his  con- 
science, and  in  1034  he  resolved  to  set  out  on  pilgrimage 
to  Jerusalem,  leaving  his  young  son,  William,  under  the 
protection  of  King  Henry  I,  of  France.  He  travelled  bare- 
foot, and  in  so  humble  a  dress,  that  as  he  passed  through  a 
little  town  in  France,  a  warder  at  the  gate  took  him  for  a 


22  LAXDMAEXS    OF    HISTORY.  '   [ciIAP.  11. 

beggar,  and  struck  him  over  the  shouhlers  with  a  halbert. 
When  his  companions  would  have  avenged  the  insult,  he 
prevented  them,  saying,  "  Pilgrims  ought  to  suffer  for  the 
love  of  God ;  I  love  his  blow  better  than  my  city  of 
Rouen."  At  Constantinople,  however,  he  appeared  in 
state,  his  mule  being  shod  with  silver  shoes,  which  were 
purposely  fastened  on  so  lightly  that  they  were  quickly 
shaken  off,  as  a  prize  of  the  crowd.  He  arrived  at  Jeru- 
salem, and  after  paying  his  devotions,  and  making  rich  gifts 
to  all  the  holy  shrines,  set  out  on  his  return  to  Europe,  but 
his  health  had  been  injured  by  the  heat  of  the  climate,  and 
he  died  at  the  city  of  Nicea. 

His  son  William,  after  many  dangers  from  his  turbulent 
vassals,  and  from  the  treachery  of  the  French,  became  very 
powerful,  and  greatly  dreaded  by  all  his  neighbors.  To  us 
he  is  best  known  as  William  the  Conqueror,  for  it  was  to 
him  that  Edward  the  Confessor  left  the  crown  of  England, 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  right  heir,  Edgar  the  Etheling. 
Harold,  Earl  of  Kent,  a  Saxon  by  his  father's  side  (the 
famous  Earl  Godwin),  but  of  Danish  blood  through  his 
mother,  seized  the  crown  on  Edward's  death,  in  1066,  but 
without  cordial  support  from  the  English,  and  his  brother 
Tostig  brought  on  him  an  attack  from  Norway,  the  last  of 
the  northern  invasions  of  England. 

Harald  Hardrada,  half-brother  of  St.  Olaf,  was  a  Chris- 
tian, and  instead  of  committing  piracies  on  the  seas,  had 
fought  in  Apulia  and  the  Holy  Land,  cleared  the  banks  of 
the  Jordan  of  robbers,  and  afterward  served  for  some 
time  in  the  guard  of  the  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  who 
maintained  a  number  of  Northmen  in  his  service,  under 
the  name  of  Vaeringers,  or,  as  the  Greeks  called  them,  Va- 
rangians. He  was  very  tall  and  handsome,  and  it  is  said 
that  the  Princess  Zoe  fell  in  love  with  him,  and  on  his 
refusal  to  marry  her,  threw  him  into  prison ;  but  he  made 
his  escape,  broke  through  the  defences  of  the  harbor  of 
Constantinople,  and  sailed  across  the  Black  Sea,  amusing 
himself  on  his  voyage  with  composing  sixteen  songs,  in 
honor  of  the  Princess  EUsif  of  Novgorod,  his  intended 
bride. 

Arriving  in  Norway,  he  obliged  Magnus,  the  son  of  St. 


AFFAIRS    OF    SPAIN".  23 

Olaf,  to  yield  up  to  him  half  his  kingdom,  and  there  he 
reigned  till  Tostig  came  to  invite  him  to  conquer  England. 
He  readily  entered  into  the  scheme,  and  landed  on  the 
coast  of  Yorkshire.  The  English  Harold  marched  to  op- 
pose him,  and  though  oifering  peace  to  Tostig,  fiercely 
replied  wlien  asked  what  he  would  grant  to  llardrada, 
"  Seven  feet  of  English  earth  for  a  grave,  or  perhaps  a 
little  more,  since  he  is  taller  than  most  men."  A  battle 
took  phice  near  York,  and  in  it  both  Tostig  and  his  ally, 
llarahl  llardrada,  were  slain,  fighting  bravely,  and  the 
Northmen  were  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  their  ships.  This 
attack  caused  the  ruin  of  Harold  of  Ens^land,  since  durinsr 
his  absence  in  the  north,  William  of  Normandy  landed 
without  opposition  in  Sussex.  William  came  armed  with 
the  authority  of  the  Pope,  who  denounced  Harold  as  a 
perjured  traitor ;  and  thus,  when  Harold  was  killed  at  Hast- 
ings on  the  5th  of  September,  1066,  tlie  English  clergy  did 
little  or  nothing  to  oppose  the  progress  of  the  Normans, 
and  without  further  difiiculty  William  became  king  of 
England.  • 

Foreign  habits  and  foreign  laws  were  brought  in  by  the 
conquerors,  the  kings  and  nobles  of  alien  blood  trampled 
upon  the  Saxons,  and  great  suftering  was  caused ;  but  the 
time  came  when  the  Normans  themselves  sought  to  revive 
the  old  laws  of  Alfred  and  Edward  ;  and  when  at  length 
the  two  nations  had  learnt  to  forget  their  mutual  hatred 
and  jealousy,  it  was  the  Norman  and  Saxon  spirit  combined 
that  raised  England  to  her  greatness  among  the  nations. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  Church  had  been  in  a  state  of  decay 
and  corruption,  and  reforms  were  made,  often  too  harshly, 
but  on  the  whole  with  beneficial  effect.  It  is  to  be  noted, 
however,  that  the  foreign  clergy  now  brought  in,  paid  far 
more  deference  to  Rome  than  the  old  Saxons  had  ever  done, 
and  looked  to  the  Pope  for  assistance  in  all  their  struggles 
with  the  laity. 

PART   IV.       AFFAIRS    OF    SPAIN.       1031-1134. 

At  this  time  the  Christians  in  Spain  were  making  great 
progress.      Hachem,  the  last  Khalif  of  Cordova,  died  in 


24  LxVXDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [ciIAP.  11. 

1031,  and  his  dominions  were  broken  up  into  a  number  of 
petty  kingdoms,  the  lesser  ones  of  which  were  soon  con- 
quered by  the  Christians.  The  little  kingdom  of  Navarre 
had  been  set  up  among  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  the  Pyr- 
enees, and  the  old  Gothic  kingdom  of  the  Asturias  had  now 
extended  itself  over  Castile,  Leon,  and  Galicia.  Fernando 
I.,  at  his  death  .in  1065,  divided  these  three  kingdoms  be- 
tween his  sons,  Sancho,  Alfonso,  and  Garcia ;  and  to  his 
two  daughters,  Urraca  and  Elvira,  he  gave  the  towns  of 
Zamora  and  Toro. 

Sancho  was  discontented  with  this  distribution,  and  took 
up  arms  against  his  brothers.  He  made  Garcia  prisoner, 
and  Alfonso  only  escaped  by  flying  by  night  to  Cordova, 
with  his  horse's  shoes  turned  backward,  so  as  to  mislead 
his  pursuers.  While  besieging  his  sister  Urraca,  in  her 
town  of  Zamora,  Sancho  was  treacherously  killed  by  a  bolt 
from  a  crossbow,  and  as  he  left  no  children,  his  brother 
Alfonso  succeeded  him  ;  but  some  of  the  Castilians  thhik- 
ing  that  the  new  king  might  have  had  some  share  in  the 
♦reason  against  his  brother,  required  him  at  his  coronation 
to  swear  that  he  was  innocent.  The  person  chosen  to  ad- 
minister the  oath  was  Don  Rodrigo  de  Bivar,  a  noble  of 
Burgos,  the  best  and  bravest  man  in  Spain,  whom  the  Cas- 
tilians called  their  Campeador,  or  champion,  and  the  Moors, 
El  Seyd,  the  chieftain,  or  as  it  is  usually  spelt  and  called  in 
Spanish,  the  Cid.  He  had  been  a  great  friend  of  Sancho, 
and  not  satisfied  with  one  oath  from  Alfonso,  he  obliged 
him  to  repeat  it  three  times.  The  king  was  so  much  of- 
fended, that  the  crown  was  no  sooner  placed  on  his  head 
than  he  banished  the  Cid  from  his  domains  for  a  twelve- 
month. Nothing  daunted,  Rodrigo  replied  that  he  thought 
himself  honored  by  receiving  l)on  Alfonso's  first  royal 
command ;  and  so  high  was  the  esteem  in  which  he  was 
held,  that  as  he  turned  away  from  the  coronation  banquet, 
three  hundred  nobles  mounted  their  horses  to  follow  him. 

It  was  proposed  to  him  to  take  vengeance  on  the  king 
for  the  injustice  he  was  sufiering,  but  the  noble  and  loyal 
Rodrigo  answered,  that  even  the  just  revenge  of  a  vassal 
upon  his  lord  was  rebellion,  and  led  his  brave  friends  to 
attack  the  Moors,  over  whom  he  gained  several  victories. 


AFFAIRS    OF    SPAIN.  25 

He  gave  up  all  the  spoil,  and  all  the  villages  and  towns  he 
won,  to  his  king  ;  and  at  last,  Alfonso  was  obliged  to  recall 
him,  but  still  bearing  hatred  against  him,  found  a  new  pre- 
text for  banishing  him.  In  this  second  exile,  the  Cid  sur- 
prised and  took  from  the  Moors  the  city  of  Valencia,  wliich, 
though  still  owning  his  ungrateful  king  as  his  sovereign, 
he  kept  as  his  own,  in  the  midst  of  the  enemy,  for  the  rest 
of  his  life.  He  lived  to  a  great  age,  highly  honored  by  the 
Castilians,  and  dreaded  by  the  Moors.  Valencia  was  too 
far  from  tlie  Christian  domains  to  be  defended  after  his 
death,  and  he  therefore  gave  orders  that  as  soon  as  he 
should  expire,  his  wife  and  daughters,  with  all  his  follow- 
ers, should  leave  the  place ;  and  that  as  their  escort,  his 
corpse  should  be  arrayed  in  full  armor,  and  set  upriglit 
on  his  good  horse  l^abieca,  with  his  sword  in  hand,  and  Iiis 
banner  displayed,  for  he  well  knew  that  no  Moor  would 
dare  to  attack  a  troop  where  they  saw  even  the  form  of  the 
Cid.  Such  was  the  funeral  procession  with  which  the  cham- 
pion of  Castile  was  brought  home  to  the  cathedral  of 
Burgos,  where  his  tomb  is  still  shown. 

It  was  in  the  reign  of  this  Alfonso  VI.,  called  el  Sabio, 
or  the  Wise,  that  the  growing  influence  of  Rome  induced 
tlie  king  and  clergy  to  attempt  to  inti'oduce  the  liturgy  of 
the  Church  of  Rome,  instead  of  that  which  had  been  in  use 
in  Spain  ever  since  the  conversion  of  the  Goths.  The  peo- 
ple, who  loved  their  own  old  service,  demanded  that  the 
merits  of  the  two  shouhl  be  put  to  the  proof;  and  this  was 
done  in  a  strange  manner.  The  trial  was  to  be  by  fire,  and 
a  great  pile  being  made  in  th6  market-place  of  Toledo,  the 
two  books  were  both  thrown  into  it,  in  the  presence  of  a 
great  assembly.  The  parchment  was  in  neither  case  con- 
sumed, but  the  Roman  liturgy  was  the  most  injured,  and  it 
was  agreed  to  put  them  to  a  second  trial.  It  was  this  time 
by  combat ;  a  champion  was  chosen  on  the  part  of  each 
book,  and  a  fight  took  place  between  them,  in  which  the 
Gothic  liturgy  again  gained  the  victory.  After  this  the 
Gothic  was  used  in  all  the  old  churches,  but  in  new  ones, 
and  in  those  recovered  from  the  Moors,  the  Roman  liturgy 
was  adopted. 

Alfonso's  daughter,  Teresa,  married  Henri,  a  younger 

2 


26  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  II. 

son  of  the  Duke  of  Lorraine ;  and  in  1095  the  king  created 
him  Count  of  Portugal,  giving  him  whatever  he  might 
conquer  from  the  Moors  on  that  side  of  the  Peninsula. 
Sixty  years  before,  in  1035,  Ramirez,  a  younger  son  of  the 
King  of  Navarre,  had  set  up  another  kingdom  towards  the 
east,  in  Aragon  ;  and  thus,  before  the  close  of  the  eleventh 
century,  four  Christian  States  had  been  founded  in  Spain, 
namely,  Navarre,  Castile,  Aragon,  and  Portugal. 

PARTY.      GREGORY   YII.    AND    HEINRICH   lY.  ,    1054-1109. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  the  Emperor  Heinrich 
HI.  had,  in  consequence  of  the  disorders  at  Rome,  taken 
the  appointment  of  the  Pope  into  his  own  hands. 

Hildebrand,  a  Roman  deacon,  a  man  of  great  talent,  and 
of  earnest  devotion  to  the  service  of  the  Church,  and  high 
in  influence  with  both  Pope  and  Emperor,  formed  the  great 
design  of  freeing  the  See  of  Rome  from  the  subjection  of 
the  emperors,  and  at  the  same  time  of  saving  it  from  the 
still  more  disgraceful  power  of  the  factions  of  the  Roman 
populace.  He  hoped  to  raise  it  to  the  dignity  which  in 
his  eyes  became  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  the  occupant  of 
which  ought,  as  he  believed,  to  be  the  visible  representa- 
tive of  the  Head  of  the  Church,  and  in  his  name  to  restrain 
the  passions  and  crimes  of  the  monarchs  of  the  earth. 

His  plans  were  forwarded  by  the  death  of  Heinrich  HI., 
which  took  place  in  1054.  Heinrich  IV.,  his  successor,  was 
only  five  years  old,  and  was  left  under  the  care  of  his 
mother,  Agnes;  and  this  minority  gave  Hildebrand  the 
opportunity  of  taking  the  first  steps  toward  his  great  ob- 
ject. 

One  of  these  was  to  forbid  the  marriage  of  the  clergy. 
It  had  been  thought  from  the  earliest  times  that  men  free 
from  family  ties  were  more  likely  to  be  devoted  to  the 
Church,  and  few  bishops  or  priests  of  any  eminence  had 
been  married  men ;  but  celibacy  was  not  rendered  com- 
pulsory till  the  time  of  Hildebrand,  when,  in  1058,  Pope 
Stephen  II.  declared  marriage  incompatible  with  the  priest- 
hood, and  acting  in  direct  opposition  to  an  ancient  decree 
of  the   great  St.  Ambrose,  denounced  as  heretics  all  the 


GREGORY   VI.    AND    HEINRICH    IV.  27 

clergy  who  refused  to  put  away  their  wives.  The  same 
rule  had  been  enforced  in  England  for  nearly  a  hundred 
years  past,  ever  since  the  time  of  Dunstan,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  who  had  attempted  to  subject  all  the  clergy  to 
the  order  of  St.  Benedict. 

The  next  year,  in  the  Council  called  the  Lateran,  from 
being  held  in  the  Church  at  the  Lateran  Gate  (where  St. 
Jolm  was  preserved  miraculously  from  the  boiling  oil),  an- 
other decree  was  enacted,  chiefly  by  the  influence  of  Hilde- 
brand,  making  it  criminal  to  accept  any  benefice  from  the 
hands  of  a  layman.  The  bishops  were  to  be  elected  by 
the  clergy ;  and  though  they  were  in  many  instances  tem- 
poral barons,  holding  large  portions  of  tlie  royal  lands  as 
the  property  of  their  See,  they  were  by  no  means  to  receive 
investiture  from  the  sovereign,  or  to  pay  homage  to  him. 
For  the  future,  the  Pope  himself  was  to  be  chosen,  not  as 
heretofore,  by  the  people  of  Rome,  who  had  shown  them- 
selves unworthy  of  the  trust,  but  by  tlie  seventy  cardinal 
or  principal  clergy  of  Rome,  the  ministers,  namely,  of  the 
difterent  parish  cliurches;  and  as  the  Cardinals,  as  they 
were  termed,  were  at  once  the  councillors  of  the  Pope,  and 
held  in  their  hands  the  most  important  appointment  in 
Europe,  their  oflice  was  much  desired  by  the  clergy.  The 
College  of  Cardinals  was  called  the  Conclave,  because  its 
deliberations  were  conducted  under  lock  and  key  (in  Latin 
clavis).  In  1073,  the  Cardinals  elected  Hildebrand  himself 
to  the  papal  throne,  upon  which  he  took  the  name  of 
Gregory  VIL,  according  to  a  custom  which  had  long  pre- 
vailed at  Rome  of  changing  the  Christian  names  of  the 
Popes. 

Heinrich  IV.  had  in  the  mean  time  been  very  badly 
brought  up.  While  a  young  child,  his  mother  took  him  to 
the  Isle  of  Kaiserswerth,  on  the  Rhine ;  and  there  certain 
of  her  subjects,  who  were  discontented  with  her  govern- 
ment, decoyed  him  into  a  pleasure-boat,  and  carried  him  oif 
to  Bremen.  The  Archbishop  of  Bremen,  under  whose  care 
he  was  placed,  was  a  wicked  and  ambitious  man,  and  neg- 
lected his  education ;  he  was  surrounded  with  evil  com- 
panions, and  grew  up  violent,  headstrong,  and  addicted  to 
every  kind  of  vice. 


28  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  II. 

He  ill-treated  his  gentle  Italian  wife  Bertha,  wasted  his 
revenues,  oppressed  his  subjects,  and  insulted  his  nobles, 
until  rebellions  broke  out,  and  both  parties  appealed  to  the 
decision  of  the  Pope.  Gregory  summoned  Heinrich  to  ap- 
pear at  Rome,  and  at  the  same  time  excommunicated  the 
bishops  who  had  paid  a  sum  of  money  on  their  appoint- 
ments. Very  indignant,  Heinrich  called  a  Diet  at  Worms, 
in  which  he  pronounced  sentence  of  deposition  on  the 
Pope;  and  on  the  other  hand,  Gregory,  in  his  Lateran 
Council,  sentenced  the  king  to  abstain  from  the  exercise  of 
the  royal  power,  and  excommunicated  him  for  his  haughti- 
ness toward  the  Church. 

His  German  subjects  elected  Rodolf,  Duke  of  Swabia,  to 
the  throne  in  his  stead,  and  he  was  obliged  to  cross  the 
Alps  to  seek  a  reconciliation  with  the  Pope.  He  found  the 
cities  of  Lombardy  so  friendly  to  him,  that  he  thought  of 
assembling  an  army  and  attacking  Rome ;  but  the  hands  of 
Gregory  had  been  so  much  strengthened  by  Robert  Guis- 
card,  the  Norman  Duke  of  Apulia,  and  by  Matilda,  the 
rich  and  powerful  Countess  of  Tuscany,  that  it  would  have 
been  impossible  to  overcome  him  by  any  forces  such  as 
Heinrich  could  collect. 

He  therefore  resolved  to  submit,  and  came  to  meet 
Gregory  at  the  castle  of  Canossa,  which  belonged  to  the 
Countess  Matilda.  He  left  his  train  without  the  walls, 
laid  aside  his  royal  apparel,  and  came  barefooted  into  the 
court  of  the  castle,  though  snow  was  lying  on  the  ground. 
There  he  waited,  fasting,  all  that  day  and  all  the  next ;  and 
it  was  not  till  the  fourth  day  that  Gregory  consented  to 
receive  and  absolve  him,  but  not  to  restore  him  to  his  au- 
thority until  his  conduct  should  have  been  inquired  into  by 
a  Diet  of  the  empire. 

Such  an  excess  of  humiliation  so  enraged  Heinrich,  that 
returning  to  Germany,  he  set  up  an  Antipope,  and  attacked 
Rodolf  of  Swabia.  In  1080,  Rodolf  was  wounded  in  battle 
by  Godfrey  de  Bouillon,  a  nephew  of  the  Duke  of  Lorraine. 
Rodolf 's  right  hand  was  cut  off  in  the  combat,  and  as  Jie 
lay  dying  on  the  ground,  he  said,  "  This  hand  was  raised 
to  swear  fealty  to  Heinrich.  Woe  to  those  who  made  me 
break  my  vow." 


GREGORY   VII.    AXD    HEINRICH    IV.  29 

Rodolf  s  death  enabled  Heinrich  to  carry  the  war  into 
Italy,  where  he  laid  siege  to  Rome.  Godfrey  de  Bouillon 
was  the  first  to  scale  the  walls,  and  Gregory  VII.  was  driven 
to  take  refuge  in  the  great  tomb  of  the  Emperor  Adrian, 
which  had  been  made  into  a  fortress,  and  was  called  the 
Castle  of  St.  Angelo.  Robert  Guiscard  came  to  his  rescue, 
drove  Heinrich  away,  and  after  burning  great  part  of  the 
city,  conducted  the  Pope  back  with  him  to  Salerno,  as  the 
Romans  were,  like  most  of  the  other  Italian  citizens, 
attached  to  Ileinrich's  cause.  In  1085,  Gregory  died  at 
Salerno ;  his  last  words  were,  "  I  have  loved  righteousness 
and  hated  iniquity,  and  therefore  do  I  die  in  exile."  His 
character  is  hard  to  describe.  His  idea  of  a  visible  head  of 
the  Church,  ruling  the  princes  of  this  world,  was  a  great 
and  noble  one,  and  he  believed  it  to  be  supported  by  Scrip- 
ture ;  but,  as  we  have  seen,  it  was  not  accordant  with  the 
practice  of  the  primitive  Church,  and  in  fact  was  a  devel- 
opment of  that  spirit  of  walking  by  sight  instead  of  faith, 
which  marked  tlie  temper  of  the  Church  of  that  time. 

The  latter  years  of  Heinrich  passed  miserably.  His 
wicked  son  Heinrich  took  advantage  of  the  censures  under 
which  the  Church  had  laid  him,  to  raise  a  rebellion ;  and 
though  the  towns  were  faithful,  the  nobles  took  part  with 
the  young  man.  Heinrich  IV.  was  treacherously  seized 
and  thrown  into  prison,  and  the  Diet  of  Mainz  required 
him  to  abdicate.  In  vain  he  threw  himself  on  his  knees, 
and  besought  his  son  to  have  pity  on  his  gray  hairs ;  he 
was  stripped  by  force  of  his  crown  and  purple  robes,  while 
he  exclaimed,  "  May  God  look  upon  your  conduct.  He 
makes  me  suffer  for  the  sins  of  my  youth ;  but  you,  who 
raise  your  hand  against  your  lord,  you  will  escape  no  more 
than  I  have.  You  will  be  punished  even  as  the  Apostle 
who  betrayed  his  Master."  To  such  poverty  was  he  re- 
duced, that  he  was  even  forced  to  sell  his  boots  to  provide 
himself  with  food ;  and  he  came  to  the  Bishop  of  Spires, 
humbly  entreating  for  some  office  in  the  cathedral,  pleading 
that  he  was  able  to  read  and  chant.  He  was  refused  even 
this  request ;  and  turning  to  the  persons  present,  he  «aid, 
"  Have  pity  on  me ;  see  how  the  hand  of  the  Lord  hath 
stricken  me."     He  died  a  few  days  after,  in  the  year  1106, 


^ 


30  LANDMARKS    OP   HISTORY.  [CHAP.  III. 

a  sinful,  but  a  much  injured  man,  and  we  may  hope  a  re- 
pentant one. 

Neither  the  death  of  Gregory  VII.  nor  of  Heinrich  IV. 
.put  an  end  to  the  dispute  respecting  lay-investiture.  Hein- 
rich V.  continued  the  same  opposition  to  Rome;  and  in 
England  the  two  kings,  William  Rufus  and  Henry  I.,  per- 
secuted Archbishop  Anselm  on  the  same  ground.  At  last, 
in  1107,  Henry  I.  consented  that  the  bishops  should  take 
from  the  altar  their  ring  and  staff,  emblems  of  the  pastoral 
power,  on  condition  that  they  paid  homage  to  the  king  for 
their  lands ;  and  in  1122,  at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  Heinrich  V., 
who  had  married  Henry's  daughter  Maude,  gave  his  con- 
sent to  the  same  terms.  Bishops  were  to  be  elected  by  the 
clergy  of  their  diocese,  subject  to  the  aj^proval  of  the 
crown. 

In  1116  died  Matilda,  Countess  of  Tuscany,  a  great 
heiress  and  childless  widow,  devoted  to  the  Church,  and 
especially  to  Gregory  VII.  She  left  all  her  possessions  to 
the  See  of  Rome ;  and  though  the  Popes  could  not  obtain 
these  lands  for  many  years,  this  bequest  was  the  real  foun- 
dation of  their  temporal  sway.  The  possessions  of  Matilda 
extended  from  Lucca  on  the  southwest,  to  Pavia  on  the 
northeast. 


CHAPTER  in. 
STATE  OF  EUKOPE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 

PART   I.      THE   FEUDAL   SYSTEM. 

.Before  proceeding  further,  it  may  be  better  to  explain  the 
leading  ideas  by  which  Western  Europe  was  influenced 
during  the  earlier  portion  of  the  period  commonly  called 
the  Middle  Ages. 

The  great  principle  of  State-government  was  the  duty 
owed  by  the  holders  of  land  to  its  owner,  whom  they  were 


THE    FEUDAL   SYSTEM.  81 

hound  to  serve  in  all  his  wars,  called  in  the  old  Teutonic 
language,  fehda,  or  feud,  for  which  reason  this  state  of 
things  was  called  the  Feudal  System.  It  was  more  or  less 
followed  out  wherever  the  great  Teutonic  nation  had  set- 
tled— in  Germany,  Italy,  France,  Spain,  Great  Britain,  and 
in  some  degree  in  Scandinavia. 

The  head  of  the  whole  system  was  the  Emperor,  under  \ 
whom,  according  to  the  theory,  the  kings  held  their  \ 
realms ;  the  dukes  were  vassals  to  the  kings,  the  counts  to 
the  dukes,  the  barons  to  the  counts,  and  the  peasants  and 
serfs  to  the  barons.  Each  of  these  orders  was  liable  to  a 
summons  from  the  superior  one ;  and  vassals  were  bound 
to  serve  their  lord  in  war  for  forty  days,  bringing  their 
own  arms  and  provisions.  On  the  death  of  a  prince  or 
noble,  his  heir  was  obliged  to  do  homage  to  his  immediate 
superior  by  kneeling  before  him,  and  holding  his  hands 
while  he  took  the  oaths  of  fealty  or  allegiance — swearing, 
that  is,  to  obey  and  defend  him ;  and  in  his  turn  he  received 
the  same  oaths  and  homage  from  the  vassals  next  beneath 
him  in  his  own  domain.  Each  of  these  feudal  lords  had 
power  of  life  and  death  in  his  own  territory ;  he  had  many 
rights  and  dues ;  and  could  demand  fines  from  his  vassals 
on  certain  occasions,  such  as  when  he  knighted  his  eldest 
son,  or  bestowed  his  daughter  in  marriage.  In  its  perfec- 
tion, the  feudal  system  thus  taught  at  once  to  command 
and  to  obey,  to  rule  and  to  be  ruled. 

Such  was  the  theory,  but  it  was  never  regularly  carried 
out,  and  was  very  imperfectly  observed,  though  the  idea 
of  such  an  arrangement  had  a  strong  influence  over  men's 
minds,  and  often  over  their  actions.  The  fact  was,  that 
though  the  Emperor  was  always  acknowledged  as  pre- 
eminent in  rank,  the  kings  never  owned  his  authority  at 
all,  and  only  paid  him  homage  on  a  few  rare  occasions, 
when  some  chance  brought  them  together  i  and  the  kings 
in  their  turn  had  very  little  power  over  their  great  crown 
vassals. 

The  Emperor,  called  in  Germany,  Kaiser,  or  Caesar,  did 
not  obtain  that  dignity  unless  he  were  crowned  by  the 
Pope  at  Rome,  and  his  title  of  Emperor  would  have  been 
but  an  empty  honor  if  he  had  not  at  the  same  time  been 


32  LA1>^DMAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  III. 

King  of  Germany,  and  tbus  at  the  head  of  the  dukedoms 
of  Saxony,  Thuringia,  Franconia,  Austria,  Swabia,  Bavaria, 
Lorraine,  and  Flanders.  The  great  prince-bishops  of 
Maintz,  Treves,  and  Cologne,  together  with  four  of  the 
chief  temporal  lords  of  the  kingdom,  the  Duke  of  Saxony, 
the  Count  Palatine  of  the  Rhine,  the  King  of  Bohemia,  and 
the  Markgraf  of  Brandenburg,  had  the  right  of  electing 
their  king,  and  had  votes  at  the  Diet  or  great  council  of  the 
empire,  held  sometimes  at  Worms,  sometimes  at  Aix-la- 
Chapelle.  The  latter  place  was  the  coronation  city  of  the 
King  of  Germany,  or  of  the  Romans,  as  he  was  also  called, 
unless  he  received  the  imperial  crown,  which  was  only 
bestowed  at  Rome ;  and  at  Pavia  he  put  on  the  iron  crown 
of  Lombardy,  which  gave  him  a  right  to  the  allegiance  of 
the  mountain-lords  of  the  Alps,  the  Count  of  Savoy,  and 
Marquis  of  Montferrat,  and  of  a  number  of  nobles  dispersed 
among  the  hills  of  Italy.  The  Popes  had  usurped  the 
feudal  supremacy  over  Sicily,  Apulia,  and  Calabria. 

The  great  dukes,  called  Kurfursts,  or  electoral  princes, 
and  also  Pfalzgrafs,  or  palatines,  paladins,  princes  of  the 
palace  council,  had  so  much  power  in  their  own  dominions, 
that  the  Emperor,  even  as  King  of  Germany,  could  not 
have  enforced  his  authority  if  he  had  not  usually  been  him- 
self one  of  the  dukes ;  as  in  the  present  period,  the  reign- 
ing family  were  dukes  of  Franconia,  the  only  place  where 
they  were  really  obeyed. 

It  was  the  same  in  France.  France,  it  must  be  observed, 
only  included  the  country  enclosed  between  the  rivers 
Meuse,  Somme,  and  Loire,  where  was  spoken  the  tongue 
which  we  call  French,  but  which  was  then  termed  the  Lah- 
gued'Oil,  in  contradistinction  to  the  Langued'Oc,  or  more 
Roman  language,  spoken  in  the  southern  provinces,  where 
there  had  been  no  intermixture  of  Franks ;  the  words  oil 
and  oc  both  signifying  yes. 

This  small  space  belonged  to  the  King  of  France  as 
Count  of  Paris,  and  was  all  that  he  could  properly  call  his 
own,  though  he  received  the  homage  of  the  lords  of  the 
rest  of  the  country  now  included  in  France,  the  counties  of 
Champagne,  Toulouse,  Provence,  and  Anjou,  and  the  duke- 
doms of  Aquitaine,  Burgundy,  and  Normandy.     This  last 


THE    FEUDAL   SYSTEM.  83 

duchy  belonged  to  the  King  of  England,  and  gave  him  a 
right  to  the  homage  of  the  Keltic  chief  of  the  duchy  of 
Brittany.  In  England,  the  wary  policy  of  William  the 
Conqueror  and  his  two  sons,  prevented  the  crown  vassals 
from  being  actually  independent  princes,  like  those  on  the 
continent ;  and  the  spirit  of  the  old  Saxon  laws  still  main- 
tained an  order  of  sturdy  yeoman-peasants,  who  preserved 
a  degree  of  vigor  and  courage  not  to  be  found  in  the  op- 
pressed Gallic  serfs  of  France.  The  King  of  Scotland  held 
the  two  northern  counties  of  England,  as  a  vassal  under  the 
English  king ;  and  the  feudal  system  prevailed  in  the  Low- 
lands of  Scotland,  though  it  had  not  yet  extended  to  the 
wild  Kelts  of  the  Highlands. 

In  the  little  kingdoms  of  Scandinavia  it  had  scarcely  yet 
been  carried  out ;  there  were  two  orders  of  men  beneath  the 
king,  the  Jarls  or  nobles,  and  the  bonder  or  free  peasants,  who 
were  bound  to  do  him  service,  bring  up  his  children,  and 
maintain  him  in  their  houses ;  for  there  was  then  no  royal 
palace,  and  the  monarch's  only  home  was  a  ship,  which  car- 
ried him  to  visit  each  of  his  Jarls  in  turn.  There  was  a 
great  council  called  a  Thing,  consisting  of  the  Jarls  and 
bonder,  without  whose  aid  the  king  could  not  act. 

Germany  and  France  were  thus  the  regions  most  influ- 
enced by  the  feudal  system,  both  for  good  and  evil,  for  it 
was  productive  of  very  great  mischiefs.  Each  noble  had 
the  opportunity  of  becoming  a  cruel  tyrant  to  his  inferiors, 
an  enemy  to  his  equals,  and  a  rebel  to  his  superiors.  The 
art  of  war,  as  it  was  then  understood,  had  taught  means  of 
defence  superior  to  those  of  attack,  and  the  castle  of  the 
pettiest  baron,  with  its  huge  solid  keep,  its  ponderous  walls, 
heavy  gates,  and  deep  moat,  only  traversed  by  a  drawbridge, 
raised  or  lowered  at  will,  could  often  eifectually  repulse  the 
assaults  of  a  considerable  army ;  so  that  a  fierce  and  law- 
less man  had  little  cause  to  fear  punishment  for  his  crimes ; 
and  from  his  fortress,  often  placed  like  an  eagle's  nest  on 
the  top  of  some  lofty  hill  or  rock,  he  preyed  upon  the 
country  round. 

The  armor  in  which  he  was  equipped  was  so  heavy  that 
it  could  only  be  worn  by  a  very  strong  man,  and  so  costly 
that  only  a  wealthy  one  could  obtain  it.     It  consisted  of  a 

2* 


34  LANDMARKS   OF   HISTORY.  [CHAP.  Ill 

hawberk  or  shirt  of  linked  chains  of  steel,  covering  the 
whole  person  as  far  as  the  knee,  where  it  was  met  by- 
plates  of  steel ;  the  hands  were  cased  in  gauntlets  guarded 
with  steel ;  the  head  defended  by  a  helmet,  with  a  visor 
over  the  face,  to  be  raised  or  closed  at  the  wearer's  pleas- 
ure ;  and  a  triangular  shield  was  carried  on  the  left  arm. 
A  lance,  a  sword,  a  battle-axe,  and  dagger,  were  the  offen- 
sive weapons,  and  sometimes  a  heavy  mace  hanging  at  the 
saddle-bow ;  for  these  nobles  always  fought  on  horseback, 
riding  against  each  other  with  their  lances  in  rest,  set  up,  that 
is  to  say,  obliquely  over  their  horse's  head,  so  as  to  strike 
with  full  force  on  their  adversary's  helmet  or  shield. 
When  the  lance  was  broken,  they  took  the  sword,  or  axe ; 
and  the  little  dagger,  or  misericorde  (mercy),  as  they  called 
it,  was  used  to  despatch  a  fallen  foe.  Men  of  inferior  rank 
were  only  allowed  the  use  of  bows  and  arrows,  and  of  short 
swords,  which  had  little  effect  on  armor  of  proof,  and  in 
battle  they  were  generally  trampled  down  and  slaughtered 
like  sheep,  by  the  heavily  armed  nobles.  Indeed,  all  over 
France  these  unhappy  peasants  were  so  cowed  by  long  cen- 
turies of  oppression,  that  they  could  scarcely  use  their  own 
weapons  ;  and  it  was  only  the  sturdy  English  and  Norman 
archers  whose  arrows  ever  told  with  any  effect  in  a  battle. 

Thus  unchecked,  either  by  fear  of  the  law  or  of  revenge 
from  the  injured,  the  feudal  nobles  often  became  dreadful 
oppressors,  using  their  arms  against  the  king,  or  against 
each  other,  keeping  up  deadly  feuds  between  families  for 
generations,  robbing  each  other's  lands,  and  waylaying 
peaceful  travellers ;  misusing  their  own  serfs,  and  killing 
those  of  their  neighbors.  There  were  times  and  places 
where  no  man's  life  was  secure,  and  the  most  atrocious 
crimes  were  unpunished.  The  minority  of  William  the 
Conqueror  in  Normandy,  the  reign  of  Philippe  I.  in  France, 
the  state  of  Germany  and  Italy  under  Heinrich  IV.  and  his 
son,  the  dukedom  of  Robert  Courtheuse  in  Normandy,  and 
the  reign  of  Stephen  in  England,  were  the  strongest  in- 
stances of  the  fearful  abuses  of  the  power  of  the  nobles. 

All  this  time,  however,  there  was  an  influence  at  work 
restraining  these  fierce  barons,  and  making  them  i^strain 
themselves,  a  voice  uplifted  against  their  excesses,  and  a 


THE    CHURCH    OF   THE   TWELFl'H    CENTURY.  35 

power  which  turned  their  lawless  violence  to  earnestness 
in  the  cause  of  Heaven. 

It  is  now  to  be  shown  how  the  Church  dealt  with  the 
darkness  of  this  world  iii  feudal  times. 

PART  II.      THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  TWELFTH  CENTURY. 

According  to  the  theory  of  the  middle  ages,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  Emperor  was  head  of  the  temporal  power,  so 
the  Pope  was  head  of  the  spiritual  power.  Beneath  him 
were  the  Archbishops,  who  received  from  him  their  pallium 
or  white  scarf,  of  the  wool  of  the  lambs  which  had  been 
blessed  by  the  Pope  on  St.  Agnes'  day.  Under  the  rule  of 
the  Archbishops  were  the  Bishops  ;  under  them  the  rest  of 
the  clergy ;  and  last  of  all,  the  laity,  of  whatever  rank, 
from  the  ting  to  the  serf. 

The  monasteries  were,  however,  exceptions  to  this  regu- 
lar order  of  things;  the  Abbots  being  immediately  subject 
to  the  Pope,  instead  of  to  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese. 
Moreover,  m  the  frequent  struggles  between  Church  and 
King,  many  of  the  Bishops  often  inclined  more  to  the  side 
of  the  King  than  to  that  of  the  Pope ;  and  the  Churches 
of  France  and  Spain  were  far  more  independent  of  Rome 
than  that  of  Germany,  or  than  England  had  been  since  the 
Conquest. 

The  power  of  the  Church  was,  according  to  theory, 
entirely  over  the  conscience,  for  no  violence,  no  earthly 
weapons  were  to  be  used  either  by  or  against  an  ecclesiastic ; 
even  crimes  committed  upon  them  by  laymen  were  unpun- 
ished by  the  temporal  power.  To  be  excluded  from  the 
Altar  was  the  greatest  punishment  ever  inflicted ;  and 
there  was  nothing  but  conscience,  public  opinion,  and  fear 
of  judgment  to  come,  to  lead  a  sinner  to  perform  the  pen- 
ances required  as  proofs  of  repentance.  Peace  was  to  fol- 
low the  Church ;  her  Altars  protected  even  the  murderer 
from  vengeance;  her  vassals  were  not  subject  to  th^call  to 
arms,  nor  liable  to  the  plunder  of  robber  barons ;  her  con- 
vents were  the  shelter  of  the  oppressed ;  and  even  her  con- 
secrated days  in  each  year,  each  season,  and  each  week, 
were  set  apart  by  what  was  called  the  truce  of  God,  which 


36  LANDMARKS    OP    HISTOEY.  [CHAP.  III. 

forbade  war  or  bloodshed  from  taking  place  from  Friday  to 
Sunday,  or  on  any  one  of  the  great  fasts  or  festivals. 

Wherever  the  lands  belonged  to  a  bishop,  or  to  a  mon- 
astery, the  peasants,  instead  of  being  trodden  down  and 
oppressed,  were  fed  and  clothed,  taught  the  best  modes  of 
tillage,  and  the*youths  of  superior  piety  and  abilities  were 
admitted  into  the  convent,  and  there  received  an  education 
which  enabled  them  to  take  holy  orders  ;  and  thus  often 
men  of  the  humblest  birth  rose  to  the  highest  eminence  and 
power  in  the  Church.  Neither  were  Church  vassals  liable 
to  be  called  to  take  up  arms,  except  in  case  of  a  foreign 
invasion,  when  the  whole  Landwehr,  as  the  Germans  called 
it,  ban  and  arriere  ban,  or  first  and  second  proclamation, 
as  it  was  termed  in  France,  was  called  forth  to  resist  the 
enemy.  The  rule  of  St.  Benedict  had  become  in  the  lapse 
of  years  somewhat  relaxed,  and  a  new  spirit  of  vigor  was 
stirred  up  about  the  year  1098,  by  a  monk  named  Robert, 
who  founded  a  new  convent  at  Citeaux,  in  Normandy,  with 
renewed  rules  of  severe  poverty  and  mortification.  His 
regulations  were  embraced  by  all  the  more  earnest  and 
devoted  men  of  the  time,  and  most  of  the  distinguished 
clergy  of  this  period  were  of  the  Cistercian  order. 

Convent  lands  were  thus  isles  of  peace  in  the  midst  of 
the  wild  sea  of  tyranny  and  oppression ;  and,  partly  for 
this  reason,  partly  because  the  endowment  of  a  monastery 
was  thought  to  atone  for  crime,  large  estates  were  granted 
or  bequeathed  to  them  by  the  kings  and  barons.  William 
the  Conqueror  was  a  great  founder  of  abbeys;  and  St. 
David  of  Scotland  endowed  so  many,  that  a  less  religious 
descendant  called  him  "A  sore  saint  to  the  crown." 

Beautiful  as  the  Church  system  was,  and  founded  on  a 
rock  of  truth  and  holiness,  yet  there  were  tares  sown  in  the 
wheat.  In  the  first  place,  the  power  of  the  Pope  was  a 
usurpation  unsanctioned  by  auglit  in  the  early  Church. 
Further,  the  Popes  did  not  know  their  own  true  strength, 
tliey  did  not  rest  merely  in  the  appeal  to  the  conscience, 
but  when  the  sinner  would  not  hear  them,  and  disregard- 
ed exhortation  and  excommunication,  they  used  earthly 
weapons  to  compel  him  to  attend..  Thus  Gregory  VII. 
used  the  support  of  the  Normans  against  Helnrich  IV., 


THE    CHURCH    OF   THE    TWELFTH    CENTURY.  37 

and  thus  the  Popes  often  took  upon  themselves  to  absolve 
the  subjects  of  an  excommunicated  prince  from  their  duty 
toward  him,  so  that  distress  might  induce  him  to  attend  to 
the  sentence.  It  was  trusting  to  false  strength  when  the 
Popes  tried  to  become  temporal  sovereigns  by  assuming 
power  over  Rome,  claiming  the  Countess  Matilda's 
legacy,  and  taking  the  supremacy  of  Sicily.  Worse  still 
was  the  profane  use  made  of  excommunication  for  political 
purposes ;  and  worst  of  all  the  interdicts,  when  a  whole 
kingdom  was  cut  off  from  Church  ordinances  for  the  offence 
of  its  ruler. 

The  abuses  of  doctrine  were  silently  growing ;  the  adora- 
tion of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  Saints,  the  over-rever- 
ence for  relics,  and  an  exaggeration  of  the  belief  that  alms- 
giving could  atone  for  sin,  prevailed  to  a  great  degree  ; 
but  the  truth  was  still  safe,  and  gloriously  did  the  Church 
uphold  her  witness  against  sin.  No  king  or  noble  could 
long  sin  on  unwarned ;  and,  excepting  perhaps  William 
Rufus,  there  is  scarcely  an  instance  of  a  man  hardened 
enough  actually  to  profess  unbelief.  Some  of  the  nobles 
laid  down  helm  and  sword  to  take  up  the  cowl  and  sandals, 
and  from  proud  and  lawless  tyrants  became  humble,  devout, 
obedient  monks ;  and  it  had  a  still  more  desirable  effect  in 
softening  and  turning  to  good  the  energies  of  those  who 
still  remained  in  the  world. 

Before  entering  on  the  institution  of  chivalry,  an  instance 
shall  be  given  of  the  power  of  the  Church  over  the  wild 
passions  of  the  half-savage  princes  of  the  north.  Swend, 
King  of  Denmark,  a  nephew  of  Knute  the  Great,  had 
caused  certain  Jarls  to  be  slain  for  making  foolish  jests 
upon  him,  and  when  he  next  attempted  to  enter  the  church, 
William,  Bishop  of  Boskilde,  an  Englishman,  met  him  at 
the  door,  and  placing  his  pastoral  staff  so  as  to  bar  the 
way,  commanded  him  to  retire,  calling  him  "  not  king,  but 
murderer,"  Swend  went  home,  took  off  his  robes,  and  re- 
turned in  sackcloth,  with  bare  feet,  to  the  door,  where  he 
lay  prostrate  till  the  bishop  came  to  give  him  the  kiss  of 
peace,  and  to  lead  him  in.  He  was  absolved  after  three 
days,  and  remained  the  firm  fiiend  of  the  bishop  till  his 
death,  in  1080. 


9> 

38  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTOEY.  [CHAP.  III. 

PAET  III.       CHIVALRY. 

It  is  impossible  to  tell  whether  the  institution  of  chivalry- 
arose  from  old  Frank  habits,  or  from  the  influence  of  the 
Church ;  it  is  only  certain  that  it  was  a  religious  institution, 
and  had  a  great  influence  for  good  over  the  rude  and  vio- 
lent manners  of  the  feudal  nobles.  Its  rules  seem  to  have 
grown  up  unconsciously,  for  nothing  is  heard  of  them  until 
they  were  in  full  force. 

Every  noble  either  was,  or  aspired  to  be,  a  knight — ad- 
mitted, that  is  to  say,  into  the  first  order  of  chivalry,  in 
which  alone  they  had  the  right  to  fight  in  the  foremost 
ranks,  to  exercise  a  separate  command,  or  even  to  sit  at 
table  with  other  knights.  Before  attaining  this  honor,  a  long 
course  of  obedience  was  however  necessary.  At  ten  or  twelve 
years  old  the  boy  of  noble  birth  became  a  page,  and  was 
obliged  to  wait  on  his  superiors,  lead  out  the  horses,  and 
attend  the  ladies  at  their  meals,  until,  when  he  became 
capable  of  bearing  arms,  he  was  made  an  esquire  (shield- 
bearer),  and  still  remaining  closely  attached  to  the  service 
of  a  knight,  carved  for  him  at  meals,  took  charge  of  his 
horse  and  armor,  followed  him  closely  wherever  he  went, 
and  kept  near  him  in  battle,  to  obey  his  orders,  supply  him 
with  a  fresh  horse  or  arms  if  he  lost  his  own,  and  to  assist 
him  out  of  the  battle  if  wounded. 

After  a  term  of  such  service  the  esquire  was  at  length 
considered  worthy  of  knighthood.  He  was  bathed  and 
arrayed  in  white  robes,  as  tokens  of  purity ;  new  armor 
of  a  make  •  superior  to  what  he  had  hitherto  worn,  was 
given  to  him,  and,  sword  in  hand,  he  watched  these  arms 
all  night  in  the  church,  or  castle  court,  until  in  early  morn- 
ing the  service  was  celebrated  in  full  pomp.  This  over, 
when  the  young  warrior  had  received  the  Holy  Commu- 
nion, and  the  blessing  of  the  bishop  or  priest  on  himself 
and  his  arms,  some  elder  knight  of  high  rank  or  fame  ap- 
proached, and  holding  his  hands,  heard  him  make,  upon  his 
knees,  the  solemn  vow  of  knighthood,  by  which  he  bound 
himself  to  fight  only  in  the  cause  of  God,  of  the  Church, 
and  of  his  liege  lord  ;  to  be  the  protector  and  champion  of 


CHIVALRY.  39 

the  oppressed,  the  widow,  and  the  fatherless ;  never  to  de- 
fend an  unjust  cause,  and  never  to  tell  an  untruth.  When 
the  vow  had  been  made  he  received  his  arms — clergy  and 
ladies  both  assisting  to  lace  on  his  helmet,  gird  the  sword- 
belt,  and  bind  on  the  gilded  spurs,  which  were  the  especial 
distinction  of  a  knight.  Lastly,  the  old  knight  who  had 
administered  the  vow,  taking  the  sword,  struck  liim  on  the 
shoulders  with  the  back  of  it,  and  in  the  name  of  God,  St. 
Michael,  and  St.  George,  bade  him  arise  a  knight,  to  be 
henceforth  faithful,  brave,  and  fortunate. 

Alas  !  that  the  history  of  chivalry  is  too  often  the  history 
of  broken  vows.  Many  a  knight  omitted  to  practise  any 
part  of  his  vow,  and  as  long  as  he  fought  fairly  and  boldly, 
considered  his  chivalry  unimpeachable :  but  there  were 
others  of  a  different  stamp  ;  and  though  Christianity  ought 
of  course  to  have  made  them  all  that  chivalry  required,  yet 
the  desire  to  be  good  knights  and  do  "  their  devoir,"  was 
an  influence  which  softened  many,  and  led  many  others  to 
high  and  better  things. 

The  solemnities  attending  the  conferring  of  the  order  of 
knighthood  varied  in  diflerent  countries,  the  only  essential 
part  was  theaecolade  or  sword-stroke.  It  often  happened 
that  squires  were  thus  for  their  good  service  dubbed  knights 
in  the  very  heat  of  a  battle ;  and  these,  made  where  the 
royal  banner  was  displayed,  were  called  knight  bannerets, 
and  considered  as  a  higher  grade  than  those  knighted  more 
at  leisure.  Otherwise  there  was  no  distinction  of  ranks,  all 
knights  were  equal ;  and  the  youngest  son  of  the  poorest 
baron,  if  a  knight,  might  demand  the  service  of  a  prince 
who  still  remained  a  squire. 

The  service  of  the  most  renowned  old  knights  was  eagerly 
sought  after,  and  their  castles  were  usually  filled  with  young 
squires  and  pages,  who  were  required  to  learn  the  practice 
of  arms,  and  at  the  same  time  the  chivalrous  demeanor, 
humble  at  once  and  spirited,  rendering  to  all  their  due,  and 
paying  especial  deference  and  attention  to  ladies ;  and  as 
the  castle  court  was  their  chief  school  for  instruction  in 
chivalry,  such  manners  as  became  a  true  knight  acquired 
the  name  of  courtesy,  while  for  the  same  reason  the  castle 
of  the  king,  as  the  centre  of  the  chief  assembly  of  these 


40  LANDMARKS    OP    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  III. 

aspirants  to  chivalry,  came  to  be  called,  par  excellence^  the 
king's  court. 

There  was  great  competition  between  the  young  knights 
and  squires  in  their  use  of  weapons  ;  and  in  fact,  the  long 
lance  and  heavy  sword,  with  the  shield  and  all  the  encum- 
bering armor,  required  long  practice  before  they  could  be 
used  with  dexterity.  It  was  the  favorite  amusement  of 
the  ladies  of  the  castle  to  watch  the  sports  and  mock  com- 
bats by  which  the  young  men  were  trained  ;  and  they  were 
often  called  on  to  declare  the  victor.  Then  the  youths  of 
two  neighboring  castles  would  challenge  each  other ;  and 
gradually  such  contentions  in  prowess  were  held  on  a  larger 
and  larger  scale,  till  they  became  almost  battles.  Half  the 
knights  in  the  kingdom  were  engaged  in  them  at  once  ;  and 
ladies  sat  in  galleries  ranged  round  to  watch  and  encourage 
them,  while  the  king  himself,  on  his  throne,  adjudged  the 
prize,  or  threw  down  his  staff  to  check  the  game  if  it  be- 
came too  dangerous.  These  jousts,  or  tournaments,  were 
the  chief  delight  of  the  middle  ages,  followed  by  feasts  and 
dances,  and  by  high  honors  to  the  most  successful  cham- 
pion, who  sometimes  received  his  prize  from  the  fairest  of 
the  ladies  present,  who  was  called  the  Queen  of  Beauty. 

Ladies  were  indeed  of  no  small  importance,  according  to 
the  rules  of  chivalry.  To  win  their  favor  was  one  of  the 
chief  objects  held  out  to  young  knights  ;  and  discourtesy 
to  them  was  one' of  the  greatest  offences  that  could  be  com- 
mitted against  the  rules  of  the  order.  It  was  the  j*  irt  of 
the  ladies  to  instruct  the  young  pages  in  courteous  man- 
ners, and  also  in  their  religious  duties ;  and  the  lady  of  a 
castle  stood  in  a  far  higher  place  of  honor  and  confidence 
than  women  before  these  chivalrous  days,  except  the  few 
who  raised  themselves  to  eminence  by  their  own  deeds. 

The  grand  centre  of  chivahy  was  France.  The  Normans 
brought  it  into  England,  where  it  was  as  much  a  moving 
spirit  as  in  its  own  countrys;  there  was  much  of  its  influence 
among  the  gallant  Christians  of  Spain,  and  the  free  bold 
Northmen  ;  though  these  latter  cared  little  for  its  rules  and 
ceremonies.  The  Germans  were  in  general  too  boorish,  and 
the  Italians  too  degraded  and  sensual,  to  understand  or 
adopt  chivalry  in  its  fulness.      Indeed,  it  must  be  remem- 


LEARNING    AND   LITERATURE.  41 

bered  that  chivalry  was  like  the  Church  and  State  systems 
of  the  middle  ages — a  theory  rather  than  a  practice,  only 
now  .tnd  then  carried  out  in  its  perfection,  and  sometimes 
joined  with  much  evil,  as  well  as  with  what  was  great  and 
beautiful. 

PART   IV.       LEARNING   AND   LITERATURE. 

The  knights,  never  seeing  chivalry  as  they  imagined  it 
ought  to  be,  were  always  fancying  that  it  had  once  been 
perfect  in  times  gone  by.  They  were  for  the  most  part 
entirely  uninformed  ;  and  as  by  tradition  a  few  great  names 
had  come  down  to  them,  such  as  those  of  the  British  King 
Arthur,  and  the  great  Charles,  whom  they  called  le  Magne, 
they  fancied  that  in  their  days  tournaments  were  fought 
and  ladies  attended  on  as  in  their  own  time. 

The  belief  was  kept  up  by  the  minstrels,  wandering  poets 
and  musicians,  who  travelled  from  castle  to  castle,  un- 
touched by  any  of  the  numerous  marauders  of  the  time, 
all  of  whom  respected  a  professor  of  the  "  gaye  science." 
They  came,  harp  in  hand,  and  welcomed  with  delight,  to 
visit  each  castle  in  turn,  enlivening  the  long  evenings  with 
music  and  songs  respecting  the  deeds  of  Arthur  and  his 
knights,  and  of  Charlemagne  and  his  paladins ;  while  the 
baron  and  his  train  of  squires  sat  listening,  ranged  on  one 
side  of  the  hall,  and  the  lady  superintending  the  spinning 
and  tapestry  Avork  of  her  maidens  on  the  other.  Roland, 
the  paladin  slain  at  Koncesvalles,  was  the  favorite  hero 
among  their  legends ;  he  was  said  to  have  been  a  knight- 
errant,  who  wandered  from  place  to  place  redressing  griev- 
ances, succoring  distressed  damsels,  and  aiding  the 
oppressed.  It  was  the  Romance  of  Roland  that  the  Con- 
queror's minstrel  sung  at  the  first  onset  at  Hastings  ;  and 
it  would  be  impossible  to  guess  what  hosts  of  gallant  young 
•men  were  encouraged  to  high  deeds  of  valor  by  emulation 
of  his  fixncied  exploits.  Lancelot  du  Lac  stood  in  the  same 
rank  among  the  knights  of  Arthur's  Round  Table,  who 
were  sung  by  the  minstrels  of  Brittany. 

In  Spain  there  were  a  number  of  beautiful  ballads  about 
the  Cid,  who  was  more  really  a  true  knight  than  either 


42  LANDMARKS    OP    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  III. 

Roland,  or  Lancelot ;  but  the  chief  home  of  poetry,  where 
at  least  it  was  most  cultivated,  was  in  Southern  France,  in 
Provence  and  Aquitaine.  There,  from  there  having  been 
no  permanent  settlement  of  Franks,  the  language  preserved 
a  good  deal  of  the  Latin,  and  was  remarkably  soft  and 
flowing ;  the  inhabitants,  of  old  Roman  and  Gallic  blood, 
had  never  lost  their  civilization,  and  while  elsewhere  none, 
save  the  clergy,  could  read  or  write,  there  it  was  usual,  not 
only  to  possess  these  accomplishments,  but  to  be  able  to 
compose  verses.  Courts  of  love  and  beauty  were  held  by 
the  Counts  of  Provence  and  Dukes  of  Aquitaine,  where, 
instead  of  contending,  as  in  other  parts  of  France,  with 
weapons,  vei-ses  were  compared,  and  prizes  bestowed  either 
of  a  laurel  crown  or  golden  violet.  It  was,  however,  said 
that  there  was.  less  purity  of  manners  among  the  soft  self- 
indulgent  Provencals  than  in  the  bolder  and  ruder  warriors 
of  the  north.  The  minstrels  of  Provence  were  called 
troubadours,  meaning  in  their  own  tongue,  inventors ;  they 
wandered  forth  in  great  numbers  into  other  countries,  and 
it  was  they  who  were  the  chief  composers  of  the  chivalric 
legends  already  mentioned,  which,  from  being  in  the  old 
Roman  tongue,  were  termed  Romances. 

In  Italy  there  was  something  of  the  same  degree  of  cul- 
tivation as  in  Provence ;  but  elsewhere  the  rudest  ignorance 
prevailed.  Kings,  and  their  great  crown  vassals,  were,  in- 
deed, generally  able  to  read  and  write,  and,  perhaps,  to  un- 
derstand a  little  Latin ;  but  it  was  very  rare  for  any  of  the 
inferior  nobility  to  be  even  thus  far  instructed ;  and  every 
kind  of  business  which  was  transacted  in  writing  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  clergy.  They  were  chancellors,  prime 
ministers,  and  treasurers ;  and  the  chaplain  of  each  castle 
had  the  charge  of  the  baron's  correspondence,  which,  in 
general,  was  not  extensive.  Indeed,  so  entirely  was  learn- 
ing confined  to  the  clergy,  that  the  very  power  of  reading 
was  considered  as  a  proof  of  belonging  to  their  order,  and 
entitled  persons  to  claim  their  privileges ;  and  from  their 
being  always  employed  to  write  letters,  the  word  clerk, 
both  in  French  and  English,  has  come  to  signify  a  sec- 
retary. 

In  the  convents,  the  monks,  in  their  quiet  and  laborious 


THE    CITIES.  43 

life  often  attained  very  considerable  learning.  They  were 
the  historians,  chronicling  the  events  of  the  year  in  a  few- 
Latin  words  on  their  parchment  volumes ;  and  they  pre- 
served the  writings  of  the  Fathers,  together  witli  such  of 
classical  antiquity  as  had  come  down  to  them.  The  arched 
cloistral  walk  round  the  square  court  of  their  monastery- 
served  as  their  study,  where,  day  after  day,  they  sat  reaa- 
ing,  or  copying,  in  cramped  and  contracted  black-letter, 
many  a  page  of  some  precious  old  work,  leaving  spaces  for 
the  capital  letters  to  be  filled  in  with  gorgeous  red,  blue, 
and  gold,  by  the  best  artist  in  their  house. 

y  These  monks  were  the  architects  who  commenced  those 
glorious  old  cathedrals,  which  have  ever  since  looked  down 
in  their  quiet  solemnity  on  the  confused  and  jarring  cities 
around  them.  Hitherto  churches  had  been  built  in  imita- 
tion of  the  basilica,  or  halls  of  justice,  of  the  later  Romans, 
and  of  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia,  at  Constantinople,  with 
round  columns  and  arches,  and  sometimes  with  a  profusion 
of  ornament ;  but  now,  in  all  the  northern  parts  of  Europe, 
a  new  style  began  to  prevail — that  which  we  call  Gothic 
architecture.  The  pointed  arch,  slender  clustered  shaft, 
tapered  spire,  and  deep  narrow  window,  with  their  marvel- 
lous solemnity  and  grace,  have  an  especial  suitableness  for 
sacred  purposes,  and  must  ever  be  considered  as  the  very 

>^erfection  of  Christian  art. 

PART  V.       THE    CITIES. 

The  chief  part  of  Europe  was,  as  has  been  shown,  linked 
in  one  great  network  of  feudal  holdings ;  but  this  only  ap- 
plied to  the  possessors  of  land  and  the  country-people. 
Those  who  lived  in  cities  were  subject  to  a  different  law. 

All  the  cities  founded  in  the  time  of  the  Romans  had,  as 
has  been  mentioned  in  the  former  volume,  been  provided 
with  a  form  of  self-government,  subject,  of  course,  to  the 
Roman  empire,  but  with  magistrates  elected  by  the  free 
inhabitants.  Many  of  these  cities  had  never  been  really 
subdued  by  the  Teutonic  tribes,  who  were  always  easily 
checked  by  fortifications ;  and  they  had  thus  carried  on 
their  ancient  habits  and    forms  of   government   without 


44  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  III. 

much  interruption.  Particular  rights  and  privileges  were 
accorded  to  the  owners  of  houses,  Avho  answered  to  what 
Roman  citizens  used  to  be ;  the  laws  were  those  of  Jus- 
tinian ;  and  the  magistrates  and  council  were  elected  by 
their  fellow-citizens,  in  ways,  and  for  periods,  varying  in 
different  towns.  Every  burgess  was  also  obliged  to  assist 
in  the  defence  of  the  town,  and  to  pay  contributions  for 
the  -carrying  on  of  government.  The  wealthiest  of  these 
burghers  were  usually  merchants  or  head  artificers ;  and 
all  the  craftsmen  of  each  trade  were  closely  pledged  to 
mutual  assistance  and  defence  by  guilds  or  brotherhoods, 
the  observance  of  which  was  as  much  a  solemnity  to  them 
as  chivalry  to  the  noble — indeed,  the  master  workmen  and 
their  apprentices  stood  in  much  the  same  relation  to  each 
other  as  knights  and  squires.  These  towns  always  owned 
the  king  of  the  country  as  their  master,  and  opposed  them- 
selves to  the  nobles,  by  Avhom  their  handicrafts  were  held 
in  great  contempt.  In  the  civil  wars  of  the  middle  ages 
we  more  often  find  the  king  and  the  cities  fighting  against 
the  nobles  than  the  king  aild  the  nobles  against  the  citizens. 
Where  a  king  lived  in  the  midst  of  his  great  towns,  he 
generally  found  in  them  better  subjects  than  in  the  feudal 
lords ;  but  when  he  was  at  a  distance,  and  his  authority 
little  felt,  the  burghers  grew  over-fond  of  power,  and  be- 
came rebellious. 

London  and  York  were  the  principal  cities  in  England 
possessing  a  municipal  government  (having  both  been 
Roman  colonies),  and  Paris,  Lyons,  and  Marseilles  stood 
in  the  same  position  in  France ;  but  the  most  independent 
cities  were  those  belonging  to  the  German  empire.  Frank- 
furt, Augsburg,  Hamburg,  and  many  others  in  Germany, 
were  growing  very  powerful,  from  the  grants  made  them 
by  the  emperors,  in  the  hope  of  balancing  the  power  of  the 
nobles.  In  Flanders,  Liege  and  Ghent  and  several  other 
towns  were  at  the  same  time  raising  themselves  to  great 
consideration,  by  the  wealth  acquired  by  their  industry. 
The  Flemings  were  great  weavers  and  cloth  merchants,  and 
the  riches  and  strength  acquired  by  this  means  early  made 
them  so  strong,  that  they  paid  little  attention  to  the  au- 
thority of  their  counts. 


THE   CITIES.  45 

Italy  was,  however,  the  country  which  most  abounded 
in  these  self-ruling  cities.  The  Emperor  Otho  the  Great 
had  granted  them  the  right  to  fortify  and  govern  them- 
selves, and  ever  since  they  had  been  growing  in  power  and 
wealth.  Each  town  possessed  a  car  called  the  caroccio,  on 
which  were  carried  its  standards  blessed  by  the  bishop, 
and  guarded  by  the  most  valiant  men.  It  was  painted 
red,  and  drawn  by  oxen  with  scarlet  trappings,  and  no  dis- 
grace was  tliought  so  great  as  tliat  of  losing  it,  so  that 
around  it  was  always  the  hottest  fighting. 

Milan  was  the  most  powerful  city  in  Lombardy,  Florence 
tlie  greatest  in  Tuscany  ;  and  Pisa  and  Genoa  were  becom- 
ing very  wealthy  and  warlike,  the  Pisans  having  driven  the 
Saracens  from  Sardinia,  and  the  Genoese  at  the  same  time 
conquered  Corsica.  None  of  the  towns  in  Lombardy  or 
Tuscany  were  dependent  on  each  other,  but  all,  down  to 
the  least  village,  called  themselves  free,  owned  no  superior 
but  the  emperor,  and  had  their  own  government  and  laws. 
The  great  nobles  of  the  Alps  and  Apennines  despised  these 
cities,  and  from  their  mountain  castles  often  made  war  on 
them  ;  but  the  lesser  nobility  on  the  plains,  hot  being  strong 
enougli  to  cope  with  the  rich  and  warlike  citizens,  and  be- 
ing also  liable  to  injury  from  the  lawlessness  of  their  fierce 
neighbors,  often  made  common  cause  with  the  towns,  and 
sought  and  obtained  the  rights  of  citizens,  so  that  in  Italy 
there  was  a  mixture  of  nobles  among  the  burghers. 

Venice  stood  alone,  still  calling  herself  a  city  of  the 
Greek  empire,  and  therefore  paying  no  obedience  to  the 
German  emperor.  She  grew  more  and  more  rich  and  mag- 
nificent, carrying  on  all  the  trade  between  the  East  and 
West,  and  hlled  with  palaces  of  her  merchant  princes. 
The  installation  of  the  Doge  was  one  of  the  most  splendid 
festivals  of  the  middle  ages,  when,  at  the  head  of  a  mag- 
nificent fleet,  he  sailed  out  of  the  long  range  of  island  pal- 
aces, and  throwing  a  golden  ring  into  the  sea,  espoused  the 
Adriatic  herself  as  his  bride. 


46  LANDMAKKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  III. 

PART   VI.       EASTERiq-   KINGDOMS. 

Besides  the  portions  of  Europe  held  together  by  the  Teu- 
tonic blood,  the  feudal  system,  the  laws  of  chivalry,  and 
the  adherence  to  the  Western  Church,  there  were  still  some 
historical  countries  which  stood,  as  it  were,  outside  this 
great  European  system,  more  or  less  divided  from  it  either 
by  their  descent,  their  habits,  or  their  religion. 

The  Northmen  and  Danes  were  far  sooner  civilized  than 
their  Swedish  neighbors,  in  consequence,  probably,  of  their 
intercourse  with  England,  Normandy,  and  Italy.  Their 
roving  temper  found  occupation  in  long  voyages,  in  the 
course  of  which  they  discovered  and  partly  settled  Green- 
land, and  touched  upon  a  place  which  they  called  Yinland, 
which  could  have  been  no  other  than  a  part  of  Labrador. 
They  also  made  frequent  pilgrimages  to  Jerusalem,  and 
many  of  them  took  service  in  the  Varangian  Guard  at  Con- 
stantinople. Memorials  of  this  service  of  theirs  still  remain 
in  Norway,  in  coins  bearing  the  heads  of  some  of  the  Greek 
emperors ;  and  lately,  in  an  obscure  church  on  the  banks 
of  a  remote  fiord,  a  picture  was  discovered,  evidently  a 
work  of  Byzantine  art,  representing  the  recovery  of  the 
true  Cross  by  the  Emperor  Heraclius.  The  Northmen  of 
Iceland  were  considered  as  the  ablest  of  all,  and  it  was  they 
who  for  the  most  part  were  the  preservers  of  the  genealo- 
gies which  proved  the  relationship  of  the  Icelander,  the 
baron  of  England  and  of  Normandy,  the  Sicilian  count, 
the  Varangian  soldier,  and  the  Norwegian  bonder,  and  the 
hereditary  share  which  all  alike  possessed  in  the  little  slip 
of  arable  land  between  the  hills  and  the  sea,  now  inhabited 
by  the  bonder,  who  represented  the  elder  branch  of  the 
family.  These  Icelanders,  when  embracing  the  Christian 
religion,  had  not  laid  aside  their  old  traditional  songs,  or 
sagas,  containing  much  of  the  history  of  their  countrymen, 
mingled  with  wild  legends  of  serpents,  magic  swords,  and 
damsels  spell-bound  in  enchanted  castles  ;  and  these,  con- 
veyed by  them  to  the  Normans,  in  time  became  blended 
with  the  Keltic  and  Romantic  legends  which  charmed  the 
ears  of  the  chivalry  of  Europe. 

Sweden  was  not  completely  converted  to  Christianity  till 


EASTERN   KINGDOMS.  47 

the  time  of  King  Carl  Swerker,  in  1160,  and  for  a  long  time 
both  the  Swedes  and  Northmen  had  to  carry  on  a  war  with 
the  wdld  Fins,  the  original  inhabitants  of  their  country  (of 
whom  the  Lapps  are  the  descendants),  as  well  as  with  the 
Sclavonians,  who  were  as  yet  scarcely  converted. 

The  Sclavonic  kingdom  of  Poland,  with  its  proud  wild 
nobles,  any  one  of  whom  might  be  elected  to  the  throne, 
was  Christian. 

The  Sclavonic  Kings  of  Bohemia  and  Hungary  not  only 
acknowledged  the  authority  of  the  Pope,  but  of  the  empe- 
ror, and  were  gradually  becoming  more  and  more  depend- 
ent on  the  empire  of  Germany.  The  greater  part  of  Russia 
in  Europe,  together  with  Lithuania  and  Prussia,  was  inhab- 
ited by  savage  heathens,  who  extended  as  far  south  as 
Bulgaria,  and  these  were  very  formidable  enemies  to  the 
fast-decaying  Greek  empire  ;  but  tlie  great  merchant  city 
of  Novgorod,  and  the  little  principality  of  Moscow,  had 
been  converted  to  the  faith  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  were 
becoming  somewhat  civilized,  though  subject  to  tlie  inroads 
of  fierce  tribes  of  Tartars  from  the  adjoining  country  and 
the  wastes  of  Asia. 

The  emperors  of  the  East  at  this  time  possessed  a  terri- 
tory extending  from  the  Danube  and  Adriatic,  as  far  as  the 
town  of  Iconium  in  Asia  Minor ;  but  it  was  shut  in  with 
enemies,  and  continually  lessened  by  the  loss  of  town  after 
town,  and  the  Saracens  in  sudden  forays  would  sometimes 
advance  even  to  the  shores  of  the  Bosphorus  ;  while,  on  the 
other  side,  the  Bulgarian  marauders  would  plunder  the 
plains  of  Thrace,  and  only  be  turned  back  by  the  walls  of 
Constantinople  and  Adrianople.  Tlie  islands  of  the  Archi- 
pelago and  the  hills  of  Albania  were  filled  with  swarms  of 
pirates,  plunderers  of  the  merchant  ships  of  Italy,  and  so 
iieet  and  well  accustomed  to  the  coast,  that  even  the  bold 
Venetians  and  Genoese  could  seldom  succeed  in  chastising 
them.  Another  foe  > was  found  in  Robert  Guiscard,  who, 
not  content  with  seizing  all  the  Capitanate,  was  proceeding 
to  attack  the  Greeks  in  the  Peloponnesus,  and  whose  con- 
quests were  only  closed  by  his  death. 

All  this  time  the  luxury  of  Constantinople  was  on  the 
increase.     Literature  was  cultivated  there,  and  the  manners 


48  LANDMAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  III. 

of  the  people  were  very  polished ;  but  everything  was 
smooth  and  hollow,  and  outward  refinement  there  existed 
together  with  horrible  crimes.  The  Blachernal  palace,  the 
abode  of  the  emperors,  was  filled  with  the  most  costly  fur- 
niture and  ornaments,  and  the  very  walls  were  crusted  with 
gold  and  jewels  ;  hosts  of  slaves  watched  every  movement 
of  the  imperial  family,  and  their  subjects  paid  honors  to 
them  better  suited  to  the  Divine  worship ;  but  beneath 
these  stately  halls  were  dark  and  horrible  dungeons,  con- 
taining in  their  depths  captives  blinded  in  infancy,  for  no 
cause  save  their  relationship  to  some  deposed  emperor — 
warriors,  statesmen,  any  who  had  given  offence,  were  there 
confined ;  and  such  imprisonment  as  this  was  lenient  treat- 
ment, compared  with  the  tortures  and  death  too  often  in- 
flicted. Treachery  and  murder,  sometimes  of  the  nearest 
relations,  are  the  most  frequent  events  in  the  history  of 
Constantinople  under  its  later  Greek  emperors. 

The  Greeks  were  for  the  most  part  too  cowardly  to  de- 
fend their  own  country,  but  trusted  to  soldiers  hired  from 
among  the  Germans,  the  Bulgarians,  and  especially  the 
brave  Northmen,  who  were  always  honored  with  the  es- 
pecial confidence  of  the  emperor.  From  Varing,  a  word  in 
their  own  tongue  signifying  a  wanderer,  they  were  called 
Varangians. 

The  brave  little  kingdoSn  of  Armenia  was  the  only  Chris- 
tian State  of  Asia,  though  many  Christians  were  spread 
through  the  dominions  of  the  Saracens,  and  enjoyed  a 
tolerable  share  of  freedom.  The  Khalifs  of  Bagdad,  in 
whose  power  Jerusalem  was,  permitted  the  Christian  pil- 
grims to  worship  at  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  on 
the  payment  of  a  moderate  tribute. 

The  power  of  the  Saracens  was,  however,  on  the  decline ; 
their  victories  had  been  fewer  of  late,  and  they  had  lost 
much  of  the  old  Arab  spirit  of  enterprise.  Both  in  Spain 
and  in  the  East  they  had  attained  a  high  degree  of  learn- 
ing, especially  in  geometry,  algebra,  and  astronomy ;  and 
they  studied  deeply  the  writings  of  Aristotle,  and  others  of 
the  ancient  Greeks,  translated  into  their  own  tongue. 
Their  architecture  was  extremely  beautiful,  as  the  remains 
in  Egypt  and  in  Spain  still  testify.     In  the  latter  country, 


HERALDRY.  49 

the  richly-carved  arcades,  the  curiously-pointed,  yet  swell- 
in  or  arches,  the  elaborate  stone  lattices,  were  beautifully 
mingled  with  the  orange  and  pomegranate  trees  of  Anda- 
lusia, enclosing  courts  hlled  with  the  sweetest  flowers,  and 
with  springing  fountains  of  cool  water;  and  the  snowy 
heights  of  the  mountain  ranges  shut  in  the  view.  Living 
in  such  lovely  scenes,  the  Spanish  Moors  were  full  of  poetry 
and  romance ;  and  they  had  caught  from  their  Castilian 
neighbors  so  much  of  the  manners  of  chivalry,  that  with 
their  free  and  generous  Arab  nature  they  were  noble  foes 
for  the  Castilian  knights. 

They,  too,  had  tournaments:  their  women  were  not 
closely  secluded,  like  those  of  the  East,  but  received  some- 
what of  the  same  homage  as  the  lady  of  a  Christian  knight. 
They  had  orders  of  knighthood,  and  strictly  regarded  the 
rules  of  honor;  and  thus,  though  constant  warfare  was 
kept  up  on  the  borders  between  them  and  the  Christians, 
it  was  divested  of  many  of  its  horrors.  On  the  part  of  the 
Castilians  and  Aragonese,  it  was  a  struggle  for  home,  for 
king,  for  religion,  and  carried  on  for  the  most  part  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  make  them  more  generous  and  self-devoted, 
instead  of  more  violent  and  rapacious.  The  history  of 
Hpain  abounds  in  anecdotes,  disj)laying  the  most  daring 
courage  and  firmness  in  battle  and  siege,  together  with 
noble  loyalty  to  the  king,  and  generous  mercy  to  the  con- 
quered, and  the  most  punctilious  adherence  to  the  rules  of 
lionor.  Such  was  the  old  Castilian  character,  the  most 
noble  perhaps  then  to  be  found  in  Europe — possibly  be- 
cause it  had  been  trained  up  in  a  long  course  of  adversity, 
borne  with  courage  and  constancy. 

PART  VII.   HERALDRY. 

Warriors  in  battle  were  distinguished  from  each  other  by 
the  marks  painted  on  their  shields,  or  the  crests  on  their 
helmets.  These  bearings,  crosses,  lions,  spots  in  memory  of 
wounds,  &c.,  descended  from  father  to  son,  and  were  re- 
garded with  great  pride  as  honorable  distinctions.  Families 
were  known  by  them ;  and  the  king  alone  had  the  right  to 
change  the  mark  on  the  shield,  the  crest  on  the  helmet,  or 

3 


50  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  III. 

the  device  on  the  banner.  To  know  and  remember  all  these 
different  blazonings,  and  to  understand  their  rules,  became  a 
science,  Avhich  was  professed  by  men  called  heralds.  They 
were  important  persons  at  a  court,  since  they  knew  the 
exact  rights,  and  the  whole  genealogy,  of  every  noble. 
After  a  battle,  they  were  sent  out  to  bring  an  account  of 
the  slain,  whom  they  knew  by  their  armorial  bearings ;  and 
in  lime  of  war  they  were  generally  employed  as  messengers, 
since  they  were  always  men  of  peace,  and  were  respected 
as  such — indeed,  to  offer  to  injure  the  person  of  a  herald 
was  considered  as  great  an  offence  as  to  attack  a  priest. 

When  the  army  was  assembled  in  time  of  war,  the 
standard  was  beside  the  king's  tent :  it  was  that  of  the 
whole  country,  and  was  only  borne  when  the  king  was 
present  in  person.  The  banner  was  less  in  size  than  the 
standard,  but  of  the  same  square  form  ;  it  was  borne  by  all 
the  great  dukes  and  counts,  and  by  some  of  the  barons, 
according  to  their  extent  of  territory:  the  pennon  was 
long  and  narrow,  with  two  points  like  a  swallow's  tail,  and 
might  be  borne  by  every  knight. 

The  banners  of  France  were  very  noted :  St.  Martin's, 
said  to  be  made  of  part  of  the  cloak  which  St.  Martin  gave 
to  the  beggar ;  and  the  oriflamme,  a  gold  and  red  banner, 
which  belonged  to  the  Abbey  of  St.  Denys,  near  Paris. 
The  king,  as  Count  of  Paris,  was  the  protector  and  cham- 
pion of  this  abbey,  and  therefore  had  a  right  to  be  buried 
there,  and  to  have  the  oriflamme  carried  before  him  at  his 
coronation  procession,  and  in  times  of  war.  The  name  of 
the  convent,  "  Mount  Joie  St.  Denys,"  was  the  battle-cry  of 
the  Counts  of  Paris ;  and  St.  Denys  was  considered  the 
patron-saint  of  France. 

The  patron- saint  of  England  was  at  first  Edward  the 
Confessor,  and  afterward  the  soldier,  St.  George,  because 
he  had  been  the  patron  of  Poitou ;  and  his  name  was  the 
war-cry  of  liichard  Coeur  de  Lion.  St.  George  was  also 
the  patron  of  Portugal  and  Burgundy.  In  Castile  and 
Aragon,  St.  James,  or,  as  the  Spaniards  called  him,  Santi- 
ago, was  the  most  revered ;  he  had  been  seen,  as  they 
thought,  on  a  white  horse,  with  a  banner  in  his  hand,  wav- 
ing them  on  to  victory,  in  a  battle  with  the  Moors.     In  the 


PETER    THE    HERMIT.  61 

same  manner  St.  Andrew  became  the  champion  of  Scotland, 
because  King  Achaius,  when  going  to  battle  with  the  Picts, 
had  a  vision  of  his  cross  in  the  sky.  St.  Mark  was  believed 
the  patron  of  Venice,  because  his  relics  had  been  carried 
thither  from  Alexandria;  and  his  winged  lion  therefore 
became  the  heraldic  bearing  of  the  republic  often  called  by 
his  name. 

There  was  always  some  meaning  in  the  blazonry  of 
shields  and  banners.  The  eagle  of  the  empire  was  in 
honor  of  the  old  Roman  eagle ;  and  the  castle  of  Castile, 
and  the  lion  of  Leon,  were  in  allusion  to  the  names  of  the 
countries.  '  England  bore  two  lions  from  the  time  of  the 
Conqueror,  and  three  after  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  because 
a  single  lion  was  the  armorial  bearing  of  Aquitaine,  the 
French  province  which  Henry  obtained  by  his  marriage ; 
and  the  lily,  or  the  fleur-de-lis  of  France,  the  most  beauti- 
ful of  all,  gold  on  a  blue  ground,  was  supposed  to  represent 
the  iris,  or  lily  flower,  sacred  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  in 
its  threefold  form  recalling  the  greatest  mystery  of  the. 
Christian  faith. 


^'  f  n  n  aITy 


PART   I.       PETER    THE    HERMIT.       1050-1096. 

About  the  year  1050,  the  Khalifs  of  Bagdad,  with  the 
whole  Arab  empire,  were  conquered  by  the  Turkomans,  or 
Turks — a  Tartar  tribe  which  had  some  centuries  before 
settled  in  the  province  of  Turkestan,  and  had  there  adopted 
Islamism.  Neitlier  so  active  nor  so  excitable  as  the  Sara- 
cens, the  Turks  had  long  remained  quiet  in  their  original 
settlement ;  but  in  the  first  years  of  the  eleventh  century 
they  broke  through  their  former  boundaries,  and  under 
Togrul  Beg,  who  called  himself  Sultan,  or  chief  of  the 


52  LANDMARKS    OP    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  IV. 

Emirs,  they  took  Bagdad,  and  dethroned  the  khalifs. 
Thus  closed  the  line  of  khalifs,  who,  since  the  time  of 
Mahomet,  a  period  of  more  than  four  hundred  years,  had 
been  regarded  as  the  representatives  of  the  Prophet,  and 
the  centre  of  the  religion  of  Mahomet. 

In  1065,  Tutush  Beg,  brother  of  the  Turkish  Sultan 
Malek  Shah,  conquered  Syria  as  far  as  the  borders  of 
Egypt,  and  took  Jerusalem,  making  a  terrible  slaughter  of 
the  inhabitants.  Th&  Turks  were  always  much  more  in- 
clined to  persecution  and  cruelty  than  the  free  and  gener- 
ous Arabs ;  and  the  Christians  of  Jerusalem  were  grievous- 
ly oppressed.  The  Hospital  of  St.  John,  built  by  some 
good  merchants  of  Amalfi,  where  an  order  of  monks  re- 
ceived the  sick  and  weary  travellers,  was  broken  up ;  the 
tribute  exacted  from  pilgrims  at  the  gates  was  greatly  in- 
creased ;  and  the  services  of  the  Church  were  frequently 
interrupted  by  the  barbarous  Turks,  who  would  rush  in 
howling  and  yelling,  leap  upon  the  altar,  throw  the  sacred 
vessels  about,  and  break  the  ornaments. 

The  dangers  of  pilgrimage  were  tenfold  increased,  yet 
the  numbers  of  these  pious  travellers  scarcely  diminished; 
and  among  them  there  came,  in  1093,  a  hermit  of  Auvergn^ 
named  Peter,  a  man  possessed  of  great  eloquence,  quick 
imagination,  and  acute,  though  not  very  steady  feelings. 

Horror-struck  at  the  condition  of  the  Holy  City,  he  re- 
turned to  Europe,  full  of  a  great  design  for  delivering  it 
from  its  enemies.  He  obtained  a  letter  from  the  Patriarch, 
and,  carrying  it  to  Pope  Urban  II.,  described  to  him  the 
desolation  he  had  witnessed,  and  called  upon  him  to  stir 
up  all  Christendom  to  rescue  from  profanation  the  places 
which  had  been  sanctified  by  the  Presence  of  their  Lord. 

Urban  entered  into  the  scheme ;  and  on  the  Feast  of  St. 
Martin,  1095,  summoned  a  great  council  of  the  clergy  and 
people,  to  meet  in  the  open  fields  at  Clermont,  in  Auvergne. 
Standing  on  a  platform,  with  the  cardinals  around  him, 
and  Peter  the  Hermit  by  his  side,  the  Pope  addressed  the 
multitude,  calling  on  them  to  lay  aside  their  own  petty 
strifes,  and  hasten  as  one  man  to  the  rescue  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  and  the  chosen  land.  Peter  the  Hermit  set  forth 
in  glowing  colors  the  scenes  he  had  witnessed,  the  desecra- 


PETER   THE    HEEMIT.  53 

tion  of  the  sacred  spots,  the  cruelty  of  the  Turks,  and  the 
misery  of  the  Christians,  and  then,  while  his  hearers  were 
weeping  at  the  thought  of  such  horrors,  the  Pope  bade 
them  take  up  arms  in  the  holy  cause.  He  told  them  that 
the  men  who  died  in  such  a  war  would  be  martyrs ;  that 
all  their  sins  would  be  pardoned ;  that  the  Lord,  whose 
battles  they  fought,  would  be  with  them,  and  that  he  would 
guard  their  homes  in  their  absence. 

A  loud  and  vehement  cry  of  "  Dieu  le  veult,''^  "  God 
wills  it !"  broke  at  once  from  the  crowd,  as  they  pressed 
forward  in  thousands  to  pledge  themselves  to  become  war- 
riors in  the  sacred  cause.  Each  who  gave  this  promise  re- 
ceived a  cross  of  red  cloth,  which  was  worn  on  breast  or 
shoulder,  to  mark  them  as  champions  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
From  Clermont  the  spirit  spread  far  and  wide ;  Peter  and 
the  other  clergy  spread  the  summons  from  place  to  place, 
and  everywhere  multitudes  arose  to  fight  for  Jerusalem. 

Peasants  and  serfs,  monks  and  beggars,  even  women  and 
children,  took  the  cross ;  and  thoughtlessly,  either  not  count- 
ing the  cost,  or  led  by  over-confidence  and  excitement  to 
expect  a  miracle — a  great  host  without  money,  without 
provisions,  without  discipline,  was  collected  together ;  and 
their  guidance  was  undertaken  by  Peter  himself,  together 
with  a  German  squire,  named  Walter,  and  usually  called 
Habenichts,  or  having  nothing.  They  set  out  eastward 
through  Germany,  with  so  little  idea,  on  the  part  of  the 
unfortunate  peasants,  of  their  route,  that  at  every  town 
they  asked  if  that  was  Jerusalem.  They  soon  began  to 
suffer  from  hunger,  and  their  leaders  found  it  impossible  to 
restrain  them  from  obtaining  food  by  plunder;  famine, 
disease,  and  desertion,  thinned  their  numbers ;  the  Hun- 
garians and  Greeks  killed  many  of  them  ;  and  when  at  last 
the  survivors  arrived  at  Constantinople,  they  were  in  so 
wretched  a  condition,  that  Peter,  who  was  always  more 
eager  than  steady,  despaired  of  their  safety,  and  quitted 
them.  Walter  Habenichts,  with  more  constancy,  pro- 
ceeded with  them  into  Asia,  and  there  died  bravely  before 
Nicea,  where  the  last  survivors  were  cut  off  by  the  Turks, 
affording  a  proof  how  little  excitement  and  warmth  can 
avail  without  steadfastness  and  wisdom. 


64  LANDMARKS    OF    IIISTOEY.  [CHAP.  IV. 

PART   II,       THE    FIRST    CRUSADE.       1095-1096. 

In  the  mean  time  the  j^rinces  of  Europe  had  been,  with  no 
less  earnestness,  but  with  greater  prudence,  preparing  for 
their  share  in  the  Holy  War,  and  assembling  their  forces 
on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine. 

The  command  of  the  expedition  was  given  to  Godfrey 
de  Bouillon,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  a  descendant  of  Charle- 
magne. He  was  the  same  who,  under  Heinrich  IV.,  had 
been  the  first  to  scale  the  walls  of  Rome,  fighting  in  obedi- 
ence to  his  liege  lord  ;  but  soon  after  the  taking  of  Rome, 
having  been  attacked  with  a  violent  fever,  he  blamed  him- 
self extremely  for  having  fought  against  the  Church,  and 
vowed  to  go  on  pilgrimage  as  soon  as  he  recovered.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  pious,  brave,  and  devoted  of  warriors, 
of  great  strength,  and  of  wisdom,  which  made  him  uni- 
versally looked  up  to. 

Under  his  command  were  Robert  Duke  of  Normandy, 
the  gallant  but  rash  son  of  William  the  Conqueror ;  Hugh 
Count  of  Vermandois,  brother  to  Philippe  I.  of  France ; 
Raymond,  the  wise  old  Count  of  Toulouse,  and  many  other 
great  nobles  and  knights,  of  whom  the  chief  were  two  of 
the  Hauteville  princes  of  the  Two  8iciiies.  Of  these,  Bohe- 
mond  was  the  eldest  son  of  Robert  Guiscard,  but  his 
mother  had  been  discarded,  and  he  himself  put  out  of  the 
succession,  in  order  that  his  ambitious  father  might  marry 
the  heiress  of  a  county  in  Calabria.  He  inherited  much  of 
his  father's  wily  and  grasping  temper,  and  instead  of  join- 
ing the  Crusade  with  the  devout  desire  of  rescuing  the 
Sepulchre,  was  chiefly  bent  on  obtaining  some  Eastern 
principality  for  himself.  His  cousin  Tancred,  son  of  an- 
other of  the  twelve  brothers  de  Hauteville,  was  of  a  differ- 
ent mould ;  brave,  generous,  courteous,  and  forbearing,  he 
was  the  hero  of  the  Crusade,  and  one  of  the  brightest 
patterns  of  chivalry.  This  gallant  army  marched  in  the 
same  course  as  their  predecessors,  and  in  due  time  arrived 
at  Constantinople.  The  reigning  Greek  emperor  was 
Alexius  Comnenus,  who  in  his  youth  had  shown  much 
vigor  and  courage  as  a  soldier,  but  on  the  throne  was  as 
timid,  deceitful,  and  luxurious  as  most  of  the  other  Greek 


THE    FIRST    CRUSADE.  66 

monarchs.  His  daughter,  Anna  Comncna,  wrote  a  history 
of  his  reign,  in  which  she  describes  the  terror  of  the  Greeks 
at  the  sight  of  the  tall,  stern,  iron-clad  Franks,  the  name 
given  in  the  East  to  all  the  Teutonic  nations.  Great  was 
the  mutual  dislike  and  contempt  in  which  these  two  nations 
held  each  other ;  each  regarded  the  other  as  schismatic  in 
religion ;  and  while  the  Greeks  dreaded  the  violence  of  the 
strangers,  and  despised  their  rudeness  and  ignorance,  the 
Franks  laughed  at  the  luxury  and  cowardice  of  their  hosts, 
and  hated  their  perfidy. 

Godfrey  himself  had  seriou8  misunderstandings  with 
Alexius,  which  prevented  the  whole  Christian  world  from 
making  common  cause  against  the  infidels.  The  Greek 
emperor  claimed,  as  well  he  might,  the  lands  possessed  by 
the  Turks  in  Syria  as  a  part  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  and 
before  afibrding  the  Crusaders  means  of  crossing  the  Bos- 
phorus,  required  of  them  to  swear  to  give  up  to  him  all 
they  might  conquer.  Godfrey,  who  deemed  himself  bound 
to  obey  none  but  the  Church  and  his  own  German  emperor, 
refused  at  first;  and  Bohemond  wished  to  involve  the 
Crusaders  in  a  quarrel  which  might  give  them  a  pretext 
for  dethroning  Alexius  and  seizing  his  empire ;  but  God- 
frey would  not  be  turned  aside  from  the  objects  of  the 
Crusade,  and  at  length  agreed  that  he,  with  all  the  other 
nobles,  should  take  the  oath  of  fealty.  The  free  barons  of 
France  and  Germany  were  excessively  displeased  with  the 
arrangement,  and  were  so  disgusted  at  the  servile  homage 
paid  to  Alexius,  that  while  the  ceremony  of  swearing 
allegiance  was  being  performed,  a  knight  named  Robert  of 
Paris  seated  himself  upon  the  emperor's  throne,  and  such 
was  the  terror  with  which  the  Franks  were  regarded,  that 
no  resentment  was  shown  for  the  insult. 

This  ceremony  over,  the  Crusaders  were  transported 
across  the  Bosphorus,  and  entered  Asia  Minor,  where,  near 
Nicea,  they  first  met  the  Turks,  and  after  much  hard  fight- 
ing, gained  several  victories.  After  a  long  siege,  Antioch 
was  taken,  upon  which  Bohemond  demanded  it  for  a  prin- 
cipality for  himself;  indeed,  there  was  so  much  selfishness 
and  party  spirit  among  the  Crusaders,  that  had  not  God- 
frey, Robert,  and  Tancred  been  earnest  and  single-minded, 


56  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  IV. 

the  whole  Christian  force  would  have  been  dispersed,  each 
guarding  the  towns  of  Asia  for  himself,  instead  of  march- 
ing on  to  Jerusalem.  They,  however,  with  the  Pope's 
legate,  Adhemar,  Bishop  of  Puy,  succeeded  in  keeping  the 
army  together,  and  only  leaving  Bohemond  and  a  few 
troops  to  guard  Antioch,  they  fought  their  way  onward. 

Tancred,  with  a  few  other  knights,  was  the  first  to  come 
in  sight  of  Jerusalem.  When  the  Crusaders  beheld  the 
Holy  City,  the  object  of  all  their  hopes  and  toils,  they  all 
at  once  fell  down  on  their  knees,  weeping  and  giving 
thanks,  and  even  kissing  the  sacred  earth,  and  as  they  rose, 
hymns  and  psalms  of  praise  were  sung  at  once  by  the  whole 
army. 

They  encamped  around  the  city,  and  prepared  for  the 
assault  by  raising  great  wooden  towers  to  be  wheeled 
against  the  walls,  with  a  sort  of  drawbridge  on  the  top 
which  might  be  dropped  on  the  battlements.  Many  fierce 
combats  took  place  during  the  siege,  before  the  appointed 
day  came  for  the  assault,  when  Godfrey  and  Raymond 
attacked  the  city  on  opposite  sides,  and  at  last  succeeded 
in  elFecting  their  entrance. 

The  gates  were  thrown  open,  and  Tancred  rode  in  at  the 
head  of  the  knights.  Their  course  was  checked  by  the 
sound  of  the  chant  of  the  Miserere  from  a  neighboring 
building ;  they  entered  it  and  found  themselves  in  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  among  the  Christians  of 
Jerusalem.  Their  joy  was  great ;  but  before  giving  them- 
selves time  to  rejoice,  they  thought  that  they  were  bound, 
like  the  Israelites  of  old,  utterly  to  destroy  the  unbelieving 
inhabitants.  In  spite  of  the  kind  and  merciful  temper  of 
Godfrey  and  Tancred,  they  encouraged  a  dreadful  slaughter ; 
the  Turks  were  cut  down  and  slain  wherever  they  were 
found ;  and  while  the  streets  still  streamed  with  blood,  the 
Crusaders  threw  ofi"  their  helmets,  bared  their  feet,  and 
came  humbly  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  where 
they  sang  hymns  of  praise,  confessed  their  sins,  and  re- 
ceived the  Holy  Communion. 


--      A        i^      _Ll;      ^1         II 

It 

KINGDOM    OF   JERUaAXEi^Tj^Lj  |^f*(  ^    67*.J  f 


PART   III.        KIXGDOM    OF    JERUSALEM.        1096-1110. 

The  Crusaders  resolved  to  elect  a  king  as  the  defender  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  after  some  deliberation,  they  made 
choice  of  the  noble  Godfrey  de  Bouillon.  He  was  led  to 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  took  the  oaths  of  a 
sovereign,  but  he  never  would  take  the  title  of  king,  nor 
wear  a  crown,  saying  it  was  not  for  him  to  wear  a  crown 
of  gold  where  his  Lord  had  worn  a  crown  of  thorns.  Such 
of  the  principal  Crusaders  as  intended  to  remain  in  the 
Holy  Land  received  different  towns  and  castles  to  hold  as 
fiefs  under  him.  Edessa  was  given  to  his  brother  Baldwin, 
Antioch  to  Bohemond,  Tripoli  to  Raymond  of  Toulouse, 
and  Galilee  to  Tancred.  All  these  phxces  were  separated 
from  each  other  by  long  spaces,  inhabited  by  the  inhdels  ; 
the  Turks  endangered  them  on  the  northern  frontier,  and 
the  Saracens  on  the  southern,  and  when  the  chief  body  of 
the  Crusaders  had  returned  home,  only  three  hundred 
knights  and  two  thousand  foot-soldiers  remained  in  the 
East. 

The  hospital  of  the  merchants  of  Amalfi  was  restored  on 
the  recovery  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  monks  who  served 
there,  perceiving  how  few  remained  to  fight  in  defence  of 
the  Christian  conquests,  applied  to  the  Pope  for  permission 
to  bear  arms.  It  was  granted  ;  and  Gerard,  their  Superior, 
drew  up  the  rules  for  the  new  Order  of  Hospitallers,  or 
knights  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  They 
were  still  to  be  monks,  priests,  and  nurses  of  the  sick,  but 
they  were  also  to  be  warriors ;  their  house  was  at  once  a 
convent,  a  hospital,  and  a  fortress ;  and  to  the  monastic 
vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience,  they  added  the 
vow  of  knighthood. 

Another  such  brotherhood  arose  at  the  same  time,  and 
took  its  name  from  the  Temple.  The  Knights  Hospitallers 
wore  black  mantles  with  white  crosses,  the  Knights  Tem- 
plars w^hite  mantles  with  black  crosses ;  the  head  of  each 
order  was  called  the  Grand  Master ;  he  took  rank  with 
sovereign  princes,  owned  no  authority  but  that  of  the  Pope, 
and  had  absolute  power  over  the  brethren.  These  were  all 
of  noble  birth,  and  were  bound  to  devote  themselves  en- 

3* 


68  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  IV. 

tirely  to  the  defence  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  never  to 
make  peace  or  truce  with  the  Saracens,  as  the  Crusaders 
indiscriminately  called  both  Turks  and  Arabs.  The  head- 
quarters of  each  order  Avere  at  Jerusalem  ;  but  throughout 
the  West  they  had  houses  called  commanderies  or  precep- 
tories,  for  the  training  of  young  men  who  were  afterward 
to  be  sent  out  tp  Palestine.  In  early  times  the  rule  was 
very  strictly  observed,  and  the  Knights  Templars  were  at 
first  so  poor,  that  two  knights  had  sometimes  only  one 
horse  between  them,  as  their  seal  ever  after  commemorated ; 
but  so  many  estates  were  in  time  bestowed  on  them,  that 
though  no  individual  member  could  possess  any  property, 
the  whole  became  very  rich,  and  with  wealth  came  corrup- 
tion. These  two  orders  were  the  chief  bulwark  of  the  Chris- 
tians of  Palestine  during  the  whole  time  that  the  kingdom 
of  Jerusalem  lasted. 

The  bad  faith  of  Alexius  Comnenus  soon  caused  Godfrey 
to  break  off  all  connection  with  him,  and  assert  the  inde- 
pendence of  his  monarchy.  At  the  same  time  the  Pope  ap- 
pointed a  Latin  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  thus  usurping  au- 
thority which  had  never  before  been  assumed  by  Rome. 

Bohemond  of  Antioch  soon  quarrelled  with  the  Greeks, 
and  tried  to  make  conquest  in  Cilicia,  but  being  defeated, 
he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  defence  of  Antioch  to  his 
cousin  Tancred,  while  he  went  to  ask  assistance  from  his 
relations  in  Apulia.  He  travelled  through  the  dominions 
of  Alexius  hidden  in  a  coffin,  the  bearers  of  which  always 
lamented  loudly  for  their  master  whenever  they  entered  a 
town.  He  arrived  safely  in  Italy,  and  there  raised  an  army, 
with  which  he  was  about  to  return  to  Antioch,  when  he  was 
taken  suddenly  ill,  and  died  in  1110. 

None  of  the  Kings  of  Jerusalem  were  long-lived.  The 
noble  and  devoted  Godfrey  died  in  1100,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  brother,  Baldwin  I.,  who  was  likewise  soon  worn  out 
with  the  burning  climate  and  constant  warfare  wliich  he 
was  obliged  to  maintain  with  the  two  great  Mahometan 
nations,  and  supported  by  such  small  forces.  His  feudal 
barons  were  half  their  time  closely  besieged  in  their  towns 
and  castles,  and  were  never  willingly  obedient  to  a  man 
lately  raised  from  their  own  rank ;  the  Templars  and  IIos- 


KINGDOM    OF   JERUSALEM.  59 

pitallers  were  entirely  under  their  own  Grand  Masters,  and 
fought  as  his  allies,  not  his  subjects ;  and  his  .best  assist- 
ants were  such  princes  and  knights  as  came  now  and  then 
from  Europe,  to  fight  for  a  few  years  in  performance  of 
a  vow. 

One  of  these  was  Sigurd  of  Norway,  a  grandson  of 
Harald  Hardrada.  After  reigning  for  some  years  jointly 
with  his  brother  Eystein,  he  set  out  on  a  Crusade,  and  on 
the  way  stopped  in  Sicily,  where  the  reigning  count  was 
Roger  II.,  son  of  the  original  conqueror,  Koger  de  Haute- 
ville.  William  of  Calabria,  the  son  of  Robert  Guiscard, 
for  whose  sake  Bohemond  had  been  set  aside,  had  died  in 
1122,  without  children,  and  Roger  of  Sicily  had  therefore 
succeeded  to  his  dukedom.  With  the  consent  of  the  Pope 
and  of  his  own  nobles,  Roger  resolved  to  take  the  rank  of 
king ;  and  as  it  was  just  at  this  time  that  Sigurd,  king  of 
the  parent  Norway,  arrived,  Roger  showed  himself  mindful 
of  his  northern  ancestry,  by  begging  him  to  confer  upon 
him  the  new  title ;  and  thus,  with  great  solemnity,  the 
Norwegian  king,  Sigurd,  bestow^ed  the  crown  of  tlie  Two 
Sicilies  upon  the  Norman  Roger. 

Sigurd  afterward  proceeded  to  the  Holy  Land,  where  Jie 
bravely  fought  against  the  Turks,  bathed  in  the  Jordan, 
and  twisted  the  willow-branches  on  its  banks  into  a  knot, 
vowing  that  his  brother  Eystein  should  go  and  loosen  it ; 
but  on  his  return  to  Norway,  he  found  that  Eystein 
thought  himself  better  employed  in  guarding  and  civil- 
izing his  own  subjects,  than  in  leaving  them  in  quest  of 
more  striking  and  splendid  adventures,  where  his  own  duty 
did  not  call  him. 


CHAPTER  V. 
GUELFS  AND  GHIBELLINES.    1100-1145. 

PART   I.       ST.  BEE]S^AED.       1100-1200. 

In  the  mean  time  several  changes  took  place  in  Europe. 
In  1108  closed  the  reign  of  Philippe  I.  of  France,  one  of 
the  weakest  and  most  incompetent  of  the  Capetian  kings. 
He  disgraced  himself  by  a  marriage  with  a  lady  named 
Bertrade  de  Montfort,  in  the  lifetime  both  of  his  own 
second  wife,  and  of  her  husband  Foulques,  Count  of  Anjou; 
and  in  spite  of  the  censures  of  the  Church,  he  retained  her 
till  his  death.  His  eldest  son,  Louis,  was  an  object  of  such 
great  dislike  to  her,  that  she  even  administered  a  dose* 
of  poison  to  him;  and  though  his  life  was  saved  by  his 
physicians,  he  never  entirely  recovered  from  its  effects ;  his 
complexion  was  ever  after  of  a  deathly  paleness,  and  early 
in  life  he  became  of  such  an  unwholesome  fatness,  that  his 
subjects  called  him  Louis  le  Gros.  He  was  obliged,  at  one 
time,  to  take  refuge  at  the  court  of  Henry  I.  of  England, 
but  he  afterwards  became  reconciled  to  his  father,  and  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne  in  1106.  In  his  youth  he  was  perfect 
in  all  the  exercises  of  chivalry,  and  afterward,  in  spite  of 
his  ill  health,  he  retained  his  activity,  and  made  his  govern- 
ment more  respected  in  France  than  that  of  any  prince  had 
been  since  the  accession  of  the  Capetian  race.  He  first 
attempted  to  keep  his  great  crown  vassals  in  check  by 
means  of  the  citizens,  and  he  granted  them  so  many  rights 
and  privileges,  that  his  name  was  held  in  especial  honor  by 
the  bourgeois  of  France. 

He  hoped  to  strengthen  the  power  of  the  crown  by 
a  marriage  between  his  eldest  son  Louis  and  Eleanor, 
daughter'of  the  last  Duke  of  Aquitaine,  who,  going  on  pil- 
grimage to  the  Holy  Land,  gave  up  all  his  great  fiefs 
to  bis  two  daughters,  thus  disposing  of  the  most  beautiful 
and  wealthy  portion  of  the  south  of  France.  Shortly  after 
tl^is  marriage,  Louis  VI.  4ied,  in  1137,  worn  out  by  his 


ST.    BERNARD.  61 

infirmities,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Louis  YIL, 
called  le  jeune^  or  the  young,  originally  because  of  his 
youthfulness  at  the  time  of  his  accession,  but  afterward 
because  of  his  weak  and  childish  conduct. 

One  of  the  bravest  men  of  Europe  at  this  time,  was 
AfFonso  Enriquez,  the  second  Count  of  Portugal,  who 
fought  against  the  Moors  with  all  the  spirit  of  a  Crusader. 
In  the  year  1139,  he  advanced  into  their  territory,  and 
at  Campo  d'Ourique  met  an  immense  force  commanded  by 
five  Moorish  kings.  The  night  before  the  battle  a  glorious 
dream  promised  him  victory ;  that  his  troops  should  pro- 
claim him  king,  and  his  children  sit  on  his  throne  even  to 
the  sixteenth  generation.  On  relating  his  vision  to  the 
army,  all  with  one  accord  shouted,  "Viva  el  Rey  Don 
Alfonso;"  and  the  new  king,  thus  chosen,  led  them  on 
against  the  infidels.  Their  victory  was  complete,  and  the 
kingdom  of  Portugal  was  extended  as  far  as  the  Alentejo; 
Coimbra  was  its  capital,  and  Afibnso  reigned  there  with 
great  glory  till  the  year  1185,  when  he  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six,  and  was  ever  after  known  as  St.  Affonso  the 
deliverer  of  Portugal. 

St.  Afibnso  introduced  the  Cistercian  order  into  Portu- 
gal, and  had  the  greatest  friendship  and  veneration  for  St. 
Bernard,  the  most  distinguished  man  of  that  brotherhood, 
and  one  of  the  holiest  persons  whose  names  have  come 
down  to  our  time. 

Bernard  was  a  youth  of  noble  family,  who  had,  soon 
after  the  first  foundation  of  Citeaux,  come  himself,  and 
brought  all  his  brothers,  to  join  that  community.  He  was 
thought  to  excel  all  the  rest  in  humility  and  devotedness, 
and  his  great  abilities  and  power  of  persuasion  caused  him 
to  be  sent  out  to  form  other  convents  on  the  same  rules. 
He  was  made  Abbot  of  Clairvaux,  in  Champagne,  and 
there,  though  living  a  life  of  extreme  strictness  and  con- 
templation, laboring  in  the  fields  with  his  own  hands,  and 
clothed  and  fed  as  coarsely  and  scantily  as  possible,  he  be- 
came the  guide  and  counsellor  of  popes  and  kings,  and 
often  the  peacemaker  between  warlike  nations.  His  tall, 
thin  figure,  his  pale  noble  countenance,  and  his  rude  dark 
garments,  could  not  be  looked  upon  without  veneration ; 


62  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTOKY.  [CHAP.  V. 

and  such  was  the  power  of  his  burning  eloquence,  that  he 
turned  the  hearts  of  almost  every  hearer.  So  high  was  he 
set  above  the  things  of  this  world,  so  free  from  its  luxuries, 
its  pomps,  or  its  interests — so  devoted  to  one  service  alone, 
that  kings  and  princes  did  not  hesitate  to  commit  their 
disputes  to  his  judgment,  as  that  of  one  belonging  to  some 
higher  sphere. 

In  the  year  1125,  the  old  Franconian  line  of  German  em- 
perors came  to  an  end  in  Heinrich  V.,  Heinrich  IV. 's  un- 
dutiful  son,  and  the  husband  of  the  English  Maude.  He 
left  his  palace  late  one  night,  and  was  never  heard  of  again, 
nor  has  any  probable  conjecture  been  formed  as  to  his  fate. 
His  widow  was  given  in  marriage  to  Geoffrey  Plantagenet, 
eldest  son  of  the  Count  of  Anjou,  and  the  electors  chose  as 
their  emperor  Lothar  of  Saxony,  who  reigned  for  s^ven 
years,  and  was  succeeded  by  Konrad,  Count  of  Hohen- 
staufen,  and  Duke  of  Swabia. 

These  Counts  of  Hohenstaufen  had  long  been  at  enmity 
with  the  Dukes  of  Bavaria,  who,  with  all  their  friends  and 
allies,  were  called  Guelfs,  from  the  Christian  name  of  sev- 
eral of  their  line ;  while-  on  their  side  the  Hohenstaufens 
and  their  party  were  called  Waiblingers,  from  one  of  their 
castles,  which  word  Waiblinger  was  corrupted  into  Ghibel- 
lino  by  the  Italians;  and  these  two  parties  of  Guelfs  and 
Ghibellines  were  perpetually  at  war  through  the  next  two 
centuries. 

Soon  after  the  election  of  Konrad,  he  besieged  Guelf, 
Duke  of  Bavaria,  in  his  castle  of  Weinsburg,  and  obliged 
it  to  surrender,  giving  permission  to  all  the  women  to  leave 
the  place,  each  taking  with  her  as  much  property  as  she 
could  carry.  The  Ghibellines  were  much  surprised  when 
the  gates  opened,  and  each  woman  came  out  with  her  hus- 
band on  her  back,  considering  him  as  the  most  precious 
thing  belonging  to  her.  They  wanted  to  attack  the 
strange  procession,  so  as  not  to  allow  their  prisoners  to  es- 
cape, but  Konrad  would  not  permit  the  brave  ladies  to  be 
molested,  and  in  their  honor  gave  the  castle-hill  the  name 
of  Weibertreue,  or  woman's  faithfuhiess. 

Peace  was  soon  after  made  by  means  of  St.  Bernard  and 
the  Pope,  Eugenius  IV.,  who  had  been  a  monk  of  Clair- 


THE    SKCOXD   CRUSADE.  63 

vaux,  and  followed  in  everything  the  advice  of  his  abbot. 
During  his  time  the  influence  of  the  Church  was  rightly- 
directed  to  compose  the  disputes  of  princes,  but  not  to  in- 
terfere with  their  temporal  power. 

PART  II.   THE  SECOND  CRUSADE.   1146. 

The  Christians  in  Palestine  were  all  this  time  hard  pressed 
by  the  Turks  and  Saracens.  In  1118  died  Baldwin  of 
Lorraine,  the  second  King  of  Jerusalem,  and  by  his  dying 
wish,  Baldwin  du  l^ourg.  Count  of  Edessa,  succeeded  him. 
During  his  reign  there  came  on  pilgrimage  his  old  friend 
Foulkes,  Count  of  Anjou,  husbaTid  of  the  worthless  Ber- 
trade,  and  to  him  Baldwin  offered  to  leave  the  crown  of 
Jerusalem,  provided  he  would  marry  his  young  daughter 
Melisende.  Foulques  accordingly  returned  to  Europe, 
gave  up  his  county  to  his  son  Geoffrey  Plantagenet,  set  his 
affairs  in  order,  and  came  back  to  Jerusalem,  where,  in 
1131,  he  married  the  princess,  just  before  her  father's  death. 
After  a  reign  of  nine  years  he  died,  leaving  two  infant  sons, 
Baldwin  III.  and  Amaury ;  and  the  kingdom  being  now 
without  any  sufficient  protector,  began  to  suffer  greatly, 
both  from  Turks  and  Saracens ;  Edessa  was  lost,  and  it 
was  plain  that  the  little  Frank  kingdom  would  soon  be 
swept  away,  unless  it  should  receive  further  assistance 
from  Europe. 

St.  Bernard  accordingly  preached  another  Crusade,  be- 
ginning his  preaching  at  Vezelai,  in  his  own  country,  where 
Louis  VII.,  who  had  lately  been  greatly  shocked  and  dis- 
tressed by  the  sight  of  the  cruelties  of  his  troops  in 
Champagne,  was  so  wrought  upon,  that  he  took  the  Cross, 
as  did  also  his  wife,  the  beautiful  but  light-minded  Eleanor 
of  Aquitaine. 

Going  to  Germany,  Bernard  next  preached  the  Crusade 
at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  and  induced  great  numbers  to  take 
up  arms  for  the  Holy  Land  ;  but  the  king,  Konrad,  hung 
back  till  the  next  Christmas,  when,  standing  before  the 
altar  of  the  Cathedral  of  Spires,  Bernard  exhorted  him  to 
show  his  gratitude  for  the  blessings  he  enjoyed,  by  hasten- 
in  ir  to  the  succor  of  his  distressed  brethren  in  Palestine. 


64  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  V. 

He  was  so  moved,  that,  exclaiming,  "  I  own  His  mercies, 
and  He  shall  not  find  me  unthankful,"  he  took  the  Cross, 
and  prepared  for  the  expedition. 

In  1147  the  Crusaders  set  forth.  There  were  no  English 
among  them,  as  the  wars  between  Stephen  and  Maude  were 
then  at  their  height,  and  David  I.  of  Scotland  had  been 
drawn  into  the  quarrel.  The  force,  conducted  by  Louis 
and  Konrad,  was  considerable,  but  neither  of  the  kings 
was  equal  in  judgment  to  the  former  leader,  Godfrey  de 
Bouillon.  Their  troops  quarrelled  with  the  Greeks  in  the 
territories  of  the  Emperor  Manuel  Comnenus ;  many  of 
them  were  treacherously  killed,  and  many  more  died 
of  famine,  and,  as  it  was  suspected,  of  eating  poisoned 
food  sold  to  them  by  the  Greeks.  Konrad  left  them  at 
Iconium,  to  spend  the  winter  at  Constantinople,  but  the 
French  continued  their  march.  The  Greek  guides  deserted 
them,  and  the  Turks  beset  them  on  all  sides ;  they  suffered 
terrible  losses,  and  no  one  in  the  whole  army  knew  what 
means  to  take  for  their  safety,  till  a  poor  knight  of  the 
name  of  Gilbert  came  forward.  King  and  nobles,  all 
equally  helpless,  left  the  command  to  him ;  he  defeated  the 
Turks,  and  by  his  excellent  skill  and  conduct,  he  succeeded 
at  length  in  bringing  tlie  main  body  of  the  army  safely  to 
Satalia.  He  then  returned  to  his  former  obscurity,  and 
his  name  is  not  again  noticed  in  history,  perhaps  because 
he  was  of  too  noble  and  pure  a  character  for  the  world  to 
honor  with  such  fame  as  it  can  bestow. 

Louis  then  gave  up  the  attempt  of  reaching  Palestine  by 
land,  and,  with  his  wife  and  all  the  nobles  and  knights, 
sailed  for  Antioch,  leaving  the  poor  foot-soldiers  to  proceed 
through  Cilicia,  where  they  were  all  cut  off  by  the  Turks. 
In  the  spring,  Konrad  joined  him  at  Antioch,  and  the  young 
Baldwin  of  Jerusalem  came  to  meet  them  there.  The 
three  kings  together  laid  siege  to  Damascus,  but  there  was 
so  much  jealousy  and  disunion  between  the  Crusaders  and 
the  barons  of  Palestine,  that  they  made  little  progress. 
The  Knights  Templars,  who  had  grown  very  avaricious, 
shamefully  accepted  a  bribe  from  the  enemy  to  induce  them 
to  persuade  the  kings  to  abandon  a  camp  which  threatened 
the  walls,  and  to  take  up  a  position  which  they  could  not  main- 


THE    SECOND   CRUSADE.  65 

tain.  They  were  foolish  enough  to  listen  to  this  treacherous 
counsel,  changed  their  post,  and  in  consequence  were  soon 
obliged  so  give  up  the  siege.  The  Templars  were  pun- 
ished by  being  disappointed  of  their  bribe,  for  the  still 
more  wily  Turks  paid  them  in  coin  which  proved  to  be 
only  copper  gilt. 

Konrad,  who,  though  no  general,  was  a  high-spirited 
chivalrous  man,  was  so  shocked  at  the  meanness,  hatred, 
and  jealousy  he  met  with  among  the  sworn  champions  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,  that  he  would  remain  in  Palestine  no 
longer,  and  returned  at  once  to  his  own  country.  In  pass- 
ing through  Constantinople,  he  made  an  alliance  with  Man- 
uel Comnenus,  in  honor  of  which  he  adopted  the  double 
eagle  as  the  armorial  bearings  of  the  empire.  He  died  in 
1152,  never  having  received  the  imperial  crown,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  nephew  Friedrich,  or  Frederick,  Duke  of 
Swabia. 

Louis  Vn.  proceeded  to  Jerusalem,  and  lingered  in  Pal- 
estine a  year  longer.  It  was  thought  that  he  was  ashamed 
to  show  his  face  in  Europe,  after  the  cruel  losses  caused  by 
his  own  want  of  judgment,  and  also  after  the  disgrace  that 
his  wife  Eleanor  of  Aquitaine  had  brought  upon  herself  and 
him,  by  her  great  misconduct  at  both  Antioch  and  Jerusa- 
lem. When  he  did  at  length  return,  his  first  measure  was 
to  divorce  her,  giving  up  her  great  duchy,  which  had  by 
his  marriage  with  her  been  united  to  the  French  crown. 

This  duchy  caused  her  hand  immediately  after  to  be 
sought  by  Henry  Plantagenet,  who  little  guessed  the  mis- 
ery this  shameless  marriage  would  cause  his  latter  years. 
He  was  already  Count  of  Anjou  and  Duke  of  Normandy, 
and  now  with  Aquitaine  in  addition,  was  lord  of  the  greater 
part  of  Louis's  kingdom.  St.  Bernard  tried  to  stir  up  the 
Christians  to  a  new  Crusade,  but  they  had  not  sufficiently 
recovered  from  this  last  unfortunate  expedition.  He  died 
•in  1153,  learving  behind  him  the  greatest  and  the  holiest 
name  of  all  the  men  of  the  twelfth  century. 


66  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  Y. 

PART  III.       FREDERICK  BARBAROSSA.       1152-1184. 

The  two  monarchs  who  came  to  the  crown  in  the  middle 
of  the  12th  century,  Frederick  I.  in  Germany  in  1152,  and 
Henry  II.  in  England  in  1154,  both  became  involved  in  dis- 
putes with  the  Church  ;  and  Henry's  persecution  of  Becket 
was,  though  on  different  grounds,  a  branch  of  the  struggle 
for  superior  power,  which  Frederick  was  carrying  on  in 
Germany  and  Italy. 

The  struggle  did  not  commence  at  once.  The  Pope  at 
that  time  was  Adrian  IV.,  whose  real  name  was  Nicholas 
Breakspear,  the  only  Englishman  who  ever  was  Pope,  but 
of  whom  we  have  no  reason  to  be  proud.  He  was  an  ally 
of  both  monarchs,  and  took  it  on  himself  to  absolve  Henry 
II.  of  an  oath  made  to  his  dying  father,  to  give  the  county 
of  Anjou  to  his  brother.  To  Frederick,  Adrian  was  in- 
debted for  his  restoration  to  his  power  over  the  city  of 
Kome,  where  the  people  had  been  stirred  up  by  a  priest, 
named  Arnold  of  Brescia,  to  clamor  for  a  republic  like 
their  ancient  one.  - 

Arnold  was  a  friend  of  Pierre  Abelard,  a  learned  Breton, 
who  had  fallen  into  heresy,  but  who  had  been  convinced 
and  silenced  by  St.  Bernard,  upon  which  he  had  gone  into 
a  convent.  He  is  now  chiefly  remembered  as  the  object  of 
the  devoted  affection  of  his  wife,  Heloise,  who  had  also  en- 
tered a  convent.  Arnold,  who  had  adopted  some  of  the 
false  doctrines  of  Abelard,  and  whose  mind  was  full  of  the 
ancient  glories  of  Rome,  excited  the  people  to  demand  a 
senate,  and  to  rebel  against  the  government  of  the  Pope. 
Adrian  called  in  the  Germans;  and  Frederick  marched  into 
Rome,  where  he  made  Arnold  prisoner,  and  caused  him  to 
be  executed  early  the  next  morning.  After  this,  Frederick 
was  crowned  by  the  Pope,  and  thus  obtained  the  title  of 
Emperor,  and  authority  over  the  numerous  Italian  cities, 
which  his  uncle  Konrad,  having  been  only  King  of  Ger- 
many, had  never  possessed. 

These  cities  having  been  so  long  without  a  king,  were  by 
no  means  willing  to  submit  to  him.  Milan,  which  was  the 
richest  of  all  those  in  Lombardy,  had  lately  made  war  upon 
Lodi;   and  gaining  the  victory,  the  walls   of  Lodi  were 


FEEDERICK   BARBAROSSA.  67 

thrown  down,  and  the  citizens  turned  out  of  their  houses, 
and  obliged  to  live  in  villages.  Some  of  them  came  to  ask 
the  protection  of  the  emperor,  who  instantly  sent  orders 
tliat  the  injuries  done  to  them  should  be  repaired.  The 
Milanese,  however,  were  so  far  from  intending  to  obey,  that 
they  tore  his  letter  in  pieces,  and  threw  it  in  the  face  of  his 
messenger.  Most  of  the  towns  in  Italy  took  their  part,  and 
were  called  Guelfic,  from  the  name  of  his  Bavarian  rivals, 
while  Pavia,  and  such  other  places  as  still  remained  loyal 
to  the  emperor,  were  called  Ghibelline.  In  general,  Fred- 
erick was  exceedingly  hated  in  Italy,  where  the  people  gave 
him  the  nickname  of  Barbarossa,  or  Ked-beard.  He  seems 
to  have  been  brave  and  high-spirited,  with  much  chivalry 
and  sincerity  in  his  temper,  but  very  proud  and  violent, 
often  cruel  when  his  passions  were  roused,  and  not  sufficiently 
reverent  in  his  dealings  with  the  Church,  thus  throwing 
himself  completely  into  the  wrong. 

In  1158  he  besieged  Milan,  and  cut  off  the  hands  of  such 
unhappy  peasants  as  tried  to  carry  provisions  into  the  town. 
After  a  long  siege  he  took  the  city,  and  obliged  the  inhab- 
itants to  pay  a  heavy  fine,  and  to  swear  fidelity  to  him, 
after  which  he  left  them  under  the  government  of  a  Podesta, 
or  chief  judge. 

In  a  short  time  they  rebelled  again,  declaring  that  they 
would  give  themselves  to  the  Pope  instead  of  the  Emperor. 
There  was  a  quarrel  at  Home  about  the  election  of  a  suc- 
cessor to  Adrian  IV.,  who  had  died  in  1160.  The  car- 
dinals had  chosen  Alexander  III.,  but  the  populace  had 
risen  and  declared  that  they  would  have  a  man  named 
Victor  for  their  Pope ;  and  Frederick,  who  disliked  Alex- 
ander, very  improperly  took  their  part.  He  was  excom- 
municated by  Alexander,  and  in  great  anger,  both  with 
him  and  Milan,  crossed  the  Alps,  and  a  second  time 
besieged  that  city.  After  dreadful  sufferings  from  famine, 
it  was  obliged  to  surrender.  For  a  whole  fortnight  the 
unhappy  citizens  were  kept  in  doubt  as  to  what  the 
emperor  might  design  to  do  with  them,  but  they  feared 
the  worst,  when  he  sent  his  wife,  the  gentle  Empress 
Beatrice,  away  to  Pavia,  so  that  he  might  not  be  moved  by 
her  prayers  in  their  favor.     The  leaders  in  the  rebellion 


68  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  V. 

were  executed,  the  walls  were  overthrown,  and  at  last 
every  inhabitant  was  ordered  to  come  out  to  the  plain 
before  the  city,  bringing  only  as  much  property  as  he 
could  carry.  When  they  were  all  assembled,  an  order  was 
read  to  them,  that  they  should  be  driven  from  their  homes, 
dispersed  in  villages,  as  they  had  used  the  people  of  Lodi, 
and  that  their  city  should  be  entirely  ruined.  They  were 
then  forced  to  set  oif  to  the  appointed  villages,  while  they 
could  see  the  homes  for  which  they  had  fought  so  long, 
being  plundered  and  demolished  by  the  Ghibellines. 

In  1167,  Frederick  marched  upon  Rome,  Alexander  fled 
to  Benevento,  and  the  Romans  opened  their  gates ;  but  the 
city  had,  since  the  dec^y  of  the  old  Roman  empire,  become 
subject  in  the  heat  of  the  weather  to  a  fever,  which  the 
Italians  call  malaria^  or  bad  air,  to  which  strangers  are 
particularly  liable.  The  Germans  suffered  grievously  from 
it,  and  in  two  months  most  of  the  emperor's  nearest 
relations  died,  together  with  two  thousand  nobles  and 
knights,  and  untold  numbers  of  common  soldiers.  Think- 
ing their  losses  a  judgment  for  attacking  the  Church,  the 
Ghibellines  retreated  to  the  north  of  Italy;  but  there 
Frederick  found  all  the  towns  united  with  the  Pope  against 
him,  by  what  was  called  the  Lombard  League ;  his  strength 
was  diminished  by  his  losses,  and  he  could  obtain  no 
fresh  troops  from  Germany,  so  that  he  was  obliged  to  sue 
for  peace  with  the  Pope.  Alexander  came  to  meet  him  at 
Venice,  where  the  emperor  led  his  mule  into  the  city,  and 
assisted  him  to  dismount.  There  is  a  story  that  the  Pope 
obliged  the  emperor  to  prostrate  himself  on  the  ground, 
while  he  set  his  foot  on  his  neck,  repeating  the  words, 
"Thou  shalt  go  upon  the  lion  and  adder;"  but  this  is 
probably  untrue,  since  the  best-authenticated  accounts  re- 
present them  as  treating  each  other  with  all  due  courtesy. 
After  the  peace  was  made,  the  Milanese  returned  home,  and 
restoi-ed  their  city. 

William  the  Good,  the  last  Norman  king  of  the  Two 
Sicilies,  who  married  Joan,  daughter  of  Henry  II.  of  Eng- 
land, had  no  children,  and  his  next  heir  was  his  aunt  Cos- 
tanza,  a  nun.  The  Emperor  Frederick,  who  used  to  say  that 
Italy  was  like  an  eel,  which  a  man  must  hold  at  once 


LOSS   OF   JERUSALEM:.  69 

by  the  head,  tail,  and  middle,  yet  which  still  might  very 
possibly  elude  his  grasp  after  all,  proposed  to  get  a  hold  of 
the  tail  by  giving  his  son  Ileinrich  in  marriage  to  Costanza, 
in  spite  of  her  vows.  The  Pope,  who  alone  was  thought 
to  have  the  power  to  absolve  her  from  them,  would  not  do 
so,  not  only  on  account  of  the  sin,  but  because  there  was 
nothing  he  dreaded  more  than  to  see  the  Ghibellines  in 
possession  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  where  hitherto  the  Norman 
princes  had  been  the  best  friends  and  supporters  of  the 
power  of  Home. 

Frederick,  however,  found  bishops  who  consented  to  sol- 
emnize the  marriage,  which  took  place  at  Palermo  in  1184. 
Alexander  immediately  excommunicated  all  the  persons 
concerned,  and  a  new  war  seemed  on  the  point  of  taking 
place,  when  tidings  arrived  from  the  East  that  Jerusalem 
had  been  taken  by  the  Saracens,  and  for  a  time  the  chiefs 
of  Christendom  were  roused  to  a  sense  of  shame  at  having 
amid  their  own  disputes  abandoned  the  sacred  trust  com- 
mitted to  them. 

PART   IV.      LOSS    OF   JERUSALEM.       1171-1186. 

The  Second  Crusade  had  been  of  no  advantage  to  the 
Chiistians  in  Palestine,  who  were  continually  growing 
weaker.  The  Franks  who  had  been  born  in  that  warm 
climate,  inherited  little  of  the  vigor  or  energy  of  their 
parents,  and  while  they  had  adopted  the  effeminate  and 
luxurious  customs  of  the  East,  feuds  and  jealousies  were  as 
bitter  and  violent  among  them  as  in  the  worst  times  in 
Europe. 

Baldwin  III.,  a  good  and  brave  man,  died  young,  and  his 
brother  Amaury,  who  succeeded  him,  also  had  a  very  short 
reign,  and  left  three  young  children,  Baldwin  IV.,  Sybilla, 
and  Isabella.  Baldwin  IV.  was  a  promising  boy,  but  he 
was  attacked  at  an  early  age  by  that  dreadful  disease,  the 
leprosy,  which  gradually  deprived  him  of  the  use  of  his 
limbs  and  of  his  eyesight.  His  sister  Sybilla  fell  in  love 
with  a  very  handsome  Poitevin  Crusader,  named  Guy  de 
Lusignan  \  she  married  him,  and  in  the  helj^less  state  of  the 
young  king,  he  became  the  leader  of  the  armies  of  Pales- 


70  LxlNDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  V. 

tine,  where  he  soon  showed  himself  at  once  vain,  rash,  and 
foolish,  and  lost  many  important  castles. 

In  this  unfortunate  state  of  things  among  the  Franks, 
they  had  to  encounter  a  more  able  enemy  than  they  had 
yet  met  with  in  the  East.  The  Khalifs  of  Egypt  had  in 
1168  been  conquered  by  another  tribe  of  Saracen  Arabs, 
from  Kurdistan,  who  brought  with  them  such  high  spirit, 
and  hardy  and  active  habits,  as  recalled  the  remembrance 
of  the  first  outbreak  of  the  Mahometans. 

Yusef,  or  Joseph,  better  known  by  his  surname  of  Salah- 
ed-deen,  the  salvation  of  religion,  or,  as  the  Crusaders  called 
it,  Saladin,  was  the  second  of  these  Arab  Sultans  of  Egypt. 
His  character  was  noble,  he  was  sincere  and  generous,  with 
all  the  valor  and  hospitable  virtues  of  the  wild  Arab  of 
the  desert ;  he  kept  his  promises  strictly,  and  was  a  devoted 
observer  of  his  own  religion.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  man 
who  thoroughly  lived  up  to  the  light  vouchsafed  to  him  ; 
and  as  it  is  probable  that  Christianity  was  never  fairly  pre- 
sented to  him,  we  may  regard  him  as  we  do  the  great  and 
good  among  the  heathens,  who  lived  before  the  truth  was 
revealed  to  the  world.  Such  a  Mahometan,  doing  his  best 
to  profit  by  the  precepts  of  his  law,  and  earnestly  clinging 
to  the  fragments  of  truth  which  his  faith  afforded,  is  far 
more  worthy  of  honor  than  such  a  Christian  as  Guy  de 
Lusignan,  whose  whole  life  was  one  course  of  selfishness, 
and  therefore,  in  fact,  of  rejection  of  the  Cross. 

In  1185,  the  poor  leprous  King  Baldwin  died,  and  the 
Franks  were  in  great  despair  at  finding  themselves  left  to 
no  better  governors  than  Sybilla  and  her  husband.  The 
Patriarch  agreed  in  council  with  the  nobles  that  she  must 
be  divorced,  and  choose  some  fitter  person  to  be  her 
husband  and  king.  Accordingly,  after  her  brother's 
funeral  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  the  Pa- 
triarch placed  the  crown  on  her  head,  and  declaring  her 
to  be  separated  from  Guy  de  Lusignan,  desired  her  to 
choose,  among  all  the  princes,  nobles,  and  knights,  him  who 
might  best  defend  her  throne. 

Sybilla  went  immediately  to  her  own  husband,  took  him 
by  the  hand,  and  set  the  crown  on  his  head,  sayii;g,  "  What 
God  hath  joined  together,  let  no  man  put  asunder."     It 


LOSS    OF   JERUSALEM.  71 

was  SO  beautiful  a  reproof,  that  it  is  a  pity  that  neither  she 
nor  her  husband  were  more  worthy ;  however,  the  barons 
were  obliged  to  abide  by  her  choice,  and  became  more  dis- 
affected than  ever.  When  Lusignan's  elder  brother,  God- 
frey, Count  de  la  Marche,  in  Poitou,  heard  of  his  coronation, 
he  exclaimed,  "If  tliey  have  made  a  king  of  Guy,  they 
would  certainly  make  a  god  of  me,  if  they  could  only 
see  me." 

The  new  king  did  nothing  to  retrieve  his  character,  and 
thick  and  fast  did  losses  and  disasters  come  upon  the  Chris- 
tians. No  one  did  them  so  much  harm  as  llenaud  de  Cha- 
tillon,  a  wicked  lawless  French  knight,  who  had  marri^ 
Constance,  Princess  of  Antioch,  and  becoming  a  favorite 
of  the  king,  led  him  into  acts  of  violence  and  contempt  of 
treaties,  which  caused  the  most  fatal  results. 

In  time  of  truce,  this  Renaud  de  Chatillon  plundered  a 
caravan,  where  Saladin's  mother  was  travelling,  and  thus 
provoked  the  vengeance  of  her  son,  wlio  invaded  Palestine 
with  all  his  forces.  On  the  hill  of  Ilittim,  near  the  lake  of 
Tiberias,  a  great  battle  was  fought,  in  which  the  Christians 
suffered  a  total  defeat,  and  the  Saracens  took  prisoners  tlie 
king  himself,  Renaud  de  Chatillon,  the  Grand  Masters  of 
the  Templars  and  Hospitallers,  and  multitudes  of  other 
nobles  and  knights.  The  principal  captives  were  conducted 
to  the  Sultan's  tent,  where  Saladin  courteously  offered  Guy 
a  cup  of  sherbet.  He  drank,  and  was  passing  the  cup  to 
Chatillon,  when  Saladin,  exclaiming,  "  Hold  !"  with  one 
stroke  of  his  sabre  cut  off  the  head  of  the  traitor,  thus 
avenging  the  insult  to  his  mother.  According  to  Arab 
laws  of  hospitality,  he  could  not  have  injured  Renaud  after 
he  had  allowed  him  to  become  his  guest  by  once  tasting  of 
his  cup. 

Guy  and  his  barons  were  spared,  in  order  to  be  ransomed, 
but  it  was  a  rule  that  the  knights  of  the  Temple  and  of  St. 
John  should  offer  no  ransom  but  their  scarf  and  sword. 
Life  was  offered  them  if  they  would  forsake  the  Christian 
faith,  which  of  course  every  one  of  them  refused,  and  the 
whole  number,  more  than  two  hundred,  were  beheaded. 

After  this  victory  Saladin  met  with  no  resistance  until 
he  came  to  the  gates  of  Jerusalem.      There  were  hardly 


7  2  LAI^DMAEKS    OF    HISTOKY.  [CHAP.  V. 

any  warriors  in  the  city,  and  women,  children,  and  monks 
in  vain  put  on  armor  and  tried  to  defend  the  walls.  Those 
who  had  undertaken  the  guardianship  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre had  woefully  failed  in  their  trust,  and  it  was  now  to 
be  taken  away  from  them. 

Saladin  offered  to  release  the  king  and  put  the  inhabit- 
ants to  ransom,  if  the  city  was  delivered  up  to  him ;  and 
Queen  Sybilla  was  obliged  to  accept  these  terms.  The 
knights  of  St.  John  conducted  the  negotiation,  and  used 
for  the  ransom  of  the  poorer  inhabitants  the  treasures  wliich 
Henry  H.  of  England  had  sent  to  Jerusalem,  in  expiation 
for  the  murder  of  Becket ;  but  as  these  were  not  sufficient, 
many  were  obliged  to  remain  in  slavery,  while  the  rest, 
stripped  of  all  their  possessions,  went  to  seek  shelter  at 
the  few  towns  still  remaining  in  the  possession  of  the  Chris- 
tians on  the  coast.  Guy  himself  wandered  from  place  to 
place  in  great  distress,  for  his  feudal  barons  were  so  dis- 
pleased with  him  for  having  occasioned  their  misfortunes, 
that  they  closed  the  gates  of  their  castles  against  him,  and 
refused  to  acknowledge  his  authority. 

Jerusalem  was  taken  by  Saladin  on  the  2d  of  October, 
1186,  eighty-eight  years  after  its  conquest  by  Godfrey  de 
Bouillon.  All  the  churches,  except  one,  were  turned  into 
mosques,  four  camel-loads  of  rose-water  were  brought  from 
Damascus,  in  order,  as  Saladin  considered,  to  purify  the 
temple,  or  mosque  of  Omar;  and  tlius  Islam  again  spread 
its  cloud  over  the  Holy  City,  from  whence  it  has  never  been 
removed. 


PART  V.   DEATH  OF  HENRY  II.  AND  FREDERICK  I.   1189. 

The  tidings  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  awoke  to  a  sense  of 
shame  all  the  princes  of  Europe,  who  had  left  their  brethren 
to  perish  unaided  in  Syria.  The  venerable  Archbishoj) 
William  of  Tyre,  went  through  the  different  States,  relating 
the  sufferings  of  the  Christians,  and  awaking  enthusiasm 
almost  equal  to  that  produced  by  the  preaching  of  Peter 
the  Hermit. 
,  A  new  state  of  thinojs  had  about  this  time  arisen  in  the 


DEATH    OF    HENRY    II.,   AN*)    FREDERICK    I.  TS 

relations  of  England  and  France.  In  1180,  died  the  weak 
though  honest  Louis  le  Jeune,  who  had  so  often  been  over- 
reached by  his  crafty  and  unscrupulous  neighbor,  Henry  II. 
His  son,  Philippe  II.,  called  Auguste,  who  succeeded  him, 
was  a  contrast  to  him  in  every  respect ;  strong  where  he 
was  feeble,  and  deceitful  where  he  was  straightforward. 
At  twelve  years  old,  Philippe  had  perceived  how  unfairly 
Henry  treated  his  father,  and  openly  told  him  that  he  might 
reckon  on  his  vengeance  by-and-by ;  and  from  the  tipie  he 
came  to  the  crown,  at  sixteen,  his  princij^al  motive  was 
enmity  to  the  whole  House  of  Plantagenet. 

For  a  little  while,  even  such  hatred  as  that  of  Philippe 
and  Henry  was  suspended  by  the  preaching  of  the  crusade, 
and  they  both  took  the  Cross ;  but  in  a  very  few  months  it 
awoke  again,  and  Philippe  drew  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion 
into  that  last  war  with  his  father,  in  the  course  of  which  the 
discovery  of  John's  treason  finally  broke  the  heart  of 
Henry  II. 

While  the  kings  of  France  and  England  were  thus  for- 
getting their  vows,  the  old  Emperor  of  Germany  was 
showing  himself  truly  zealous  and  devoted.  Rejoiced  to 
become  for  once  the  champion  of  the  Church,  he  gave  up 
his  dispute  respecting  Sicily,  reconciled  himself  to  the  Pope, 
and  set  off  at  the  head  of  his  army  in  the  same  unfortunate 
track  through  Hungary  and  the  Greek  empire,  which  had 
been  trod  with  so  much  loss  by  his  uncle  Konrad. 

Alexius  III.,  the  last  Greek  emperor  of  the  House  of 
Comnenus,  had  been  murdered  in  1183,  and  the  present 
monarch  was  Isaac  Angelus,  a  weak,  timid,  double-dealing 
man ;  but  Frederick  succeeded  in  passing  through  his  do- 
minions with  fewer  disputes  and  disasters  than  any  former 
Crusader,  and  safely  arrived  on  the  Turkish  border.  Under 
the  walls  of  Iconium  he  met  the  Turks  in  such  an  immense 
force,  that  the  Germans  considered  themselves  as  lost,  and 
began  to  prepare  for  instant  death.  The  brave  old  emperor 
rode  in  front  of  their  ranks,  exclaiming,  "  Why  stand  ye 
here  and  grieve,  my  children  ?  Christ  reigns ;  Christ  com- 
mands ;  Christ  conquers.  Come  with  me,  my  brethren  in 
arms,  who  have  left  your  homes  to  win  heaven  by  your 
blood."    So  saying,  he  spurred  his  horse  against  the  enemy ; 

4 


14  LAlN^DMAnSKS    OF    HISTORY.  [ciIAP.  V. 

his  knights  followed  him  at  full  speed  ;  the  Turks  fled  at 
their  onset,  and  he  gained  a  complete  victory. 

Having  thus  secured  Iconium,  he  marched  towards  An- 
tioch,  and  on  the  way  he  stopped  to  bathe  in  the  cool 
waters  of  the  Calycadnus.  The  current  was  too  strong  for 
him,  and  he  was  drawn  under  it  and  drowned,  in  the  sight 
of  his  army,  by  whom  he  was  deeply  lamented,  for  though 
a  stern  and  pitiless  foe  to  the  Italians,  he  was  a  kind  and 
generous  master  to  the  Germans. 

It  was  at  that  very  time  that  Henry  II.  was  lying  on  his 
death-bed,  wildly  calling  himself  a  dishonored  king,  and 
cursing  his  ungrateful  children.  Henry  and  Frederick  had 
come  to  the  throne  within  two  years  of  one  another,  and 
both  died  in  the  same  year,  1189;  both  had  spent  a  long 
life  of  ambition,  and  had  been  involved  in  fierce  quarrels 
with  the  Church ;  the  same  opportunity,  as  it  were,  of  re- 
trieving what  was  past,  had  been  oifered  to  both.  One  had 
cast  aside  his  worldly  disputes  and  accepted  the  summons 
with  all  his  heart,  and  to  him  it  was  given  to  die  with  the 
Cross  on  his  breast,  with  the  highest  and  purest  glory  he 
had  ever  acquired,  fresh  and  undimmed.  The  other  had 
thrown  aside  his  vow,  had  returned  to  his  former  worldly 
schemes,  and  taken  up  arms  against  another  Crusader ;  the 
sins  of  his  youth  had  indeed  been  allowed  to  find  him  out, 
and  the  anguish  of  his  deserted  death-bed  was  perhaps  un- 
equalled by  any  of  which  we  hear  in  history. 

PART  VI.       THE  THIRD  CRUSADE.        1189-1199. 

The  death  of  Henry  II.  recalled  to  his  son  Richard  his 
former  intentions  with  regard  to  the  Crusade,  and  he 
pushed-  on  his  preparation  with  great  eagerness.  He 
agreed  to  meet  Philippe  Auguste  at  Messina,  whence  they 
might  sail  to  the  Holy  Land,  instead  of  wasting  their 
strength  by  marching  through  Asia  Minor.  Richard  had 
a  fleet  of  his  own,  but  Philippe  was  obliged  to  hire  ships 
from  tlie  Genoese,  with  which  he  arrived  at  Messina. 

In  1188  had  died  William  II.  of  Sicily,  who  should  have 
been  succeeded  by  his  aunt  Costanza,  the  nun  who  had  been 
married  to  Ileinrich  of  Hohenstaufen.     Heinrich  had  sue- 


THE    THIRD    CKUSADE.  75 

cecded  his  father  Frederick  in  Germany,  and  was  busy  in 
taking  possession  of  the  empire,  and  as  he  was  a  cruel  and 
avaricious  man,  the  Sicilians  and  Neapolitans  took  advan- 
tage of  his  absence,  and  gave  their  crown  to  Tancred, 
Count  of  Lecce,  a  son  of  King  Roger  I. 

Tancred  was  acknowledged  by  both  Philippe  and  Richard, 
who  spent  the  winter  in  his  kingdom,  and  there  engaged  in 
a  number  of  quarrels  both  with  him  and  with  each  other, 
which  did  little  credit  to  their  character  as  Crusaders.  In 
the  spring  of  1192,  they  sailed  from  Messina.  In  the 
English  fleet  there  was  a  ship  containing  Joan  Plantagenet, 
the  widow  of  the  last  King  of  Sicily,  and  Berengaria  of 
Navarre,  who  was  betrothed  to  Richard,  and  was  to  be 
married  to  him  as  soon  as  the  season  of  Lent  was  over.  A 
storm  arose,  and  the  ship  containing  these  ladies  was  driven 
into  a  harbor  of  Cyprus.  This  island  was  in  possession  of 
a  Greek  named  Isaac  Comnenus,  who,  in  the  confusion 
which  ensued  upon  the  death  of  his  kinsman  Alexius  III., 
had  caused  himself  to  be  crowned  emperor  of  Cyprus.  He 
refused  to  allow  Joan  and  Berengaria  either  to  land  or  to 
receive  refreshment  from  the  shore.  Coeur  de  Lion  was  so 
indignant  at  the  discourtesy  shown  to  his  bride,  that  he 
landed  with  all  his  forces,  and  made  a  rapid  Conquest  of  the 
whole  island.  He  took  Isaac  prisoner,  and  sent  him,  bound 
in  fetters  of  silver,  to  Tripoli,  while  his  daughter,  the 
heiress  of  Cyprus,  was  placed  under  the  care  of  Berengaria. 
As  it  was  now  Easter,  Richard  was  married  at  Limasol, 
and  then  proceeded  on  his  voyage  to  the  Holy  Land. 

The  port  of  Acre  was  in  possession  of  the  Saracens,  and 
some  months  before  a  siege  had  been  commenced  by  Guy 
de  Lusignan,  with  the  assistance  of  some  of  the  Germans, 
who  had  continued  the  Crusade  under  Leopold  Duke  of 
Austria,  together  with  Conrad,  Marquis  of  Montferrat  and 
Prince  of  Tyre,  the  husband  of  Queen  Sybilla's  sister 
Isabella.  To  this  town  the  Kings  of  England  and  France 
directed  their  course,  and  Philippe  arrived  there  first, 
owing  to  Richard's  delay  at  Cyprus,  but  no  progress  was 
made  in  the  siege  till  the  English  came,  and  Richard's 
valor  quickly  obliged  the  Saracens  to  surrender. 

Unfortunately  his  pride  was  equal  to  his  courage ;  he 


V6  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.     V. 

oifended  Leopold  of  Austria,  by  tearing  down  the  banner 
which  he  had  planted  on  the  battlements  of  Acre ;  and  he 
caused  scarcely  less  displeasure  to  the  Franks  of  the  Holy 
Land,  by  insisting  on  having,  together  with  the  French, 
the  sole  guardianship  of  the  town.  Philippe,  jealous  of  his 
high  reputation,  and  nourishing  his  ancient  hatred  to  the 
Plantagenets,  gave  up  the  Crusade  on  the  plea  of  ill-health, 
and  returned  to  France,  intending  to  do  as  much  injury  as 
possible  to  him  during  his  absence.  The  Crusaders,  though 
weakened  by  his  departure,  proceeded  with  the  campaign, 
but  they  were  obliged  to  fortify  Ascalon,  before  they 
could  march  upon  Jerusalem;  and  here  a  second  dispute 
broke  out  between  Leopold  and  Richard.  The  king,  in  a 
fit  of  passion,  struck  Leopold  a  blow,  which  so  irritated 
him,  that  he  quitted  the  army  and  returned  to  Austria, 
planning  vengeance.  About  this  time  died  Sybilla,  Queen 
of  Jerusalem,  leaving  no  children,  and  the  succession  was 
claimed  by  Conrad  of  Montferrat,  in  right  of  his  wife 
Isabella ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  Guy  de  Lusignan  main- 
tained that  a  king  once  crowned,  was  a  king  forever. 

The  decision  was  committed  to  Richard,  who  though  he 
had  hitherto  been  an  enemy  to  Conrad,  declared  him  King 
of  Jerusalem,  and  to  compensate  Lusignan  for  his  disap- 
pointment, gave  him  in  marriage  the  captive  princess  of 
Cyprus,  and  made  him  king  of  her  island. 

A  few  days  after  his  nomination  to  the  throne,  while 
returning  from  a  banquet  at  Acre,  Conrad  was  stabbed  to 
the  heart  by  two  Arabs,  of  a  sect  called  Assassins,  from  the 
name  of  Hassan,  their  first  founder.  All  these  were  de- 
voted to  the  service  of  a  chief,  whom  the  Crusaders  called 
the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain ;  and  whoever  was  appointed 
by  him  to  commit  a  murder,  was  certain  to  perform  his 
bidding,  reckless  of  his  own  life,  since  it  was  believed  that 
eternal  happiness  wafe  secured  by  the  fulfilment  of  his 
chieftain's  commands. 

Isabella,  Conrad's  widow,  soon  married  Henri  Count  of 
Champagne,  thus  bestowing  on  him  the  title  of  King  of 
Jerusalem,  though  his  kingdom  actually  extended  over  a 
very  few  towns  and  castles  on  the  coast.  The  Crusaders 
in  vain  strove  to  reach  Jerusalem ;  Ramla  was  the  furthest 


THE   TUIED   CEUSADE.  77 

point  they  ever  attained;  and  after  the  great  battle  of 
Joppa,  Richard  suffered  from  a  fever,  which,  together  with 
tidings  from  Europe  of  the  machinations  of  his  brother 
John  with  Philippe  Auguste,  obliged  him  to  conclude  a 
treaty  with  Saladin.  A  truce  was  made  to  last  three 
years,  three  months,  three  weeks,  three  days,  three  hours, 
three  minutes,  and  three  seconds,  and  Coeur  de  Lion 
quitted  Palestine,  after  having  gained  no  solid  advantage 
for  the  Christians  except  the  conquest  of  the  city  of  Acre. 

On  his  homeward  voyage  he  was  driven  by  contrary 
winds  into  the  Adriatic,  attacked  by  the  Albanian  pirates, 
shipwrecked  at  Trieste,  hunted  by  the  relations  of  Conrad, 
and  at  last  made  prisoner  by  Leopold  of  Austria,  by  whom 
he  was  sold  to  Heinrich  VL  of  Gennany.  His  treacherous 
brother  John,  and  the  King  of  France,  attempted  to  per- 
suade Heinrich  to  keep  him  in  captivity  for  life,  but  the 
German  princes,  headed  by  Heinrich  the  Lion,  Duke  of 
Saxony,  son  of  his  sister  Matilda,  obliged  the  emperor  to 
release  him  on  the  payment  of  a  ransom. 

Whilst  he  was  still  in  his  prison,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Danube,  died  his  Mahometan  foe,  who  had  shown  himself 
so  much  more  high-minded  and  generous  than  his  Christian 
allies.  Saladin  died  at  Damascus  on  the  3d  of  March, 
1193,  full  of  honors,  both  from  fnend  and  enemy.  The 
day  before  his  death  he  caused  one  of  his  emirs  to  go 
through  the  streets  of  Damascus,  carrying  his  shroud,  and 
proclaiming,  "  Behold  all  that  Saladin  the  conqueror  of  the 
East  taketh  away  with  him." 

His  brother,  Malek-el-Adel,  deprived  his  children  of  their 
inheritance ;  and  wars  took  place  among  the  Arabs,  which 
left  the  Christians  a  little  breathing-time. 

The  base  and  covetous  Heinrich  VL,  of  Germany,  died 
in  1198;  and  in  the  following  year  the  gallant  Richard 
Cceur  de  Lion  lost  his  life  before  a  petty  fortress  in  Guienne, 
having  occupied  himself  far  more  with  the  affairs  of  Pales- 
tine and  of  Europe  than  with  those  of  his  own  country. 


CHAPTER  yi. 
PONTIFICATE  OF  INNOCENT  III.    1197-1216. 

PART   I.      THE    INTERDICT   OP   FRANCE.        1200. 

In  the  year  1200  an  entirely  new  set  of  sovereigns  were 
reigning  in  Europe,  all,  excepting  Philippe  II.  of  France, 
having  come  to  the  throne  within  the  last  four  years. 

The  most  prominent  man  in  Europe,  from  character  as 
well  as  from  rank,  was  the  Pope,  Innocent  III.,  a  Roman 
noble  by  birth,  who,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven,  was  elected 
to  the  papal  throne,  in  the  year  1197.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  noble  of  all  the  popes,  one  of  the  boldest  and  most 
unscrupulous,  and  his  pontificate  forms  one  of  the  most 
important  steps  in  the  advance  of  the  power  of  the  See  of 
Rome. 

In  Germany  the  succession  of  the  empire  was  disputed, 
for  Frederick  of  Hohenstaufen  and  Swabia,  the  son  of 
Heinrich  VI.,  was  but  three  years  old,  and  was,  therefore, 
set  aside  by  the  electors.  His  mother,  Costanza,  carried 
him  to  her  own  kingdom  of  Sicily,  and  placed  herself  and 
him  under  the  protection  of  the  Pope,  and  in  this  country 
he  grew  up  with  more  of  the  tastes  and  habits  of  an 
Italian  than  of  a  German.  The  electors  in  the  mean  time, 
after  some  dispute,  chose  Otho,  Duke  of  Saxony  and  Bruns- 
wick, of  the  Guelf  party,  who  was  soon  after  crowned  at 
Rome  by  Innocent  III. 

England  had  been  usurped  by  the  wicked  John,  who,  in 
1202,  murdered  his  nephew,  Arthur  of  Brittany,  and  by 
this  crime  afibrded  Philippe  Auguste  a  plea  for  commencing 
his  revenge  on  the  Plantagenets,  by  seizing  the  dukedom 
of  Normandy,  which  John  had  not  courage  to  defend. 

All  this  time  Philippe  himself  was  involved  in  a  serious 
quarrel  with  the  Pope ;  indeed,  it  was  one  of  those  cases 
of  flagrant  misconduct  on  the  part  of  a  prince,  where  the 
Church  had  every  right  to  interfere. 

After  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  Isabelle  of  Hainault,- 


THE   INTERDICT    OF   FRANCE.  79 

Philippe  married  Ingeberge,  daughter  of  Waldemar,  the 
great  King  of  Denmark.  The  Danes  were  still  very  un- 
civilized, and  Philippe,  who  had  a  cultivated  mind,  and 
was  accustomed  to  courteous  manners,  soon  showed  that  he 
paid  no  attention  to  the  maxims  of  chivalry,  or  of  Chris- 
tianity, by  shutting  up  the  poor  queen  in  a  convent,  and 
offering  his  hand  to  another  princess. 

Otho  de  Meranie,  Duke  pf  Moravia,  had  the  wickedness 
to  give  him  his  daughter,  Agnes,  who  was  considered  the 
most  beautiful  lady  in  Europe.  She  was  very  young  and 
gentle.  Philippe  became  much  attached  to  her,  and  at  all 
the  tournaments,  the  knights  and  troubadours  called  her 
"  The  Flower  of  Ladies." 

Innocent  wrote  to  remonstrate  with  the  king  on  the  sin 
he  was  committing.  Philippe  paid  no  attention  to  his 
warnings,  and  at  Christmas,  1199,  the  Pope  laid  the  king- 
dom of  France  under  an  Interdict.  All  the  bishops  and 
abbots  were  assembled  at  night  in  the  Cathedral  of  Dijon, 
each  with  a  torch  in  his  hand,  the  bells  were  rung  with  a 
funeral  knell,  veils  were  hung  over  the  images  of  the  saints, 
the  relics  were  carried  into  the  crypts,  the  sacramental 
bread  was  consumed  by  fire ;  then  the  legate  from  Rome 
read  the  decree  of  the  Pope,  that  all  rites  of  religion 
should  cease  in  the  kingdom  until  the  king  took  back  his 
lawful  wife;  and  amidst  the  weeping  of  the  assembled 
people,  the  torches  were  all  at  once  extinguished,  as  a  token 
of  the  darkness  that  was  supposed  to  fall  upon  France. 

The  clergy  and  religious  orders  were,  indeed,  allowed  to 
continue  their  worship,  but  only  with  doors  closed  against 
the  people ;  the  dead  might  not  be  buried  in  consecrated 
ground,  and  the  whole  nation  were  treated  as  heathens. 
At  first  Philippe  was  violently  enraged,  and  tried  to  brave 
the  anger  of  the  Pope;  but  he  found  all  his  subjects  were 
against  him,  and  saw  that  it  would  not  be  safe  to  allow 
them  any  longer  to  continue  under  the  interdict. 

He  therefore  sent  Agnes  away  to  one  of  his  castles  in 
Normandy,  and,  riding  himself  to  the  convent  where  Inge- 
berge was,  he  brought  her  back  to  his  palace,  on  a  pillion 
behind  him.  The  Pope  consented  to  free  him  from  the  in- 
terdict, and  on  the  Uh.  of  September  the  bells  again  were 


80  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  VI. 

rung,  and  France  was  full  of  rejoicing  at  being  reconciled 
to  the  Church. 

Poor  Agnes  died  broken-hearted  in  Normandy,  at  the 
end  of  another  month,  soon  after  the  birth  of  a  son,  to 
whom  she  gave  the  name  of  Tristan,  from  the  French  word 
triste^  or  sad.  Ingeberge  spent  the  rest  of  her  life  at  the 
palace,  and  she  seems  to  have  been  a  very  good  wife. 

PART  II.   THE  FOURTH  CRUSADE.   1201-1203. 

The  state  of  the  Latin  kingdom  in  the  Holy  Land  grew 
worse  and  worse ;  Joppa  was  taken  by  Saphadin,  Sultan  of 
Damascus,  and  brother  of  Saladin,  and  twenty  thousand 
Christians  put  to  the  sword ;  and  shortly  after,  the  brave 
King  Henri  of  Champagne  was  killed,  by  falling  into  the 
castle-ditch  at  Acre.  His  widow,  Isabelle,  next  married 
Amaury  de  Lusignan,  brother  to  Guy,  whom  he  had  just 
succeeded  in  the  island  of  Cyprus. 

Lmocent  HL  attempted  to  rouse  Europe  to  another 
effort  for  the  deliverance  of  Jerusalem,  and  sent  Foulques, 
Curate  of  ISTeuilly,  in  France,  to  preach  the  Crusade.  He 
met  with  no  success  with  any  of  the  kings,  but  a  great 
number  of  nobles  and  knights  took  the  Cross  ;  among  whom 
the  most  noted  were  the  gallant  young  Count  Thibault  of 
Champagne;  Baldwin,  Count  of  Flanders  ;  Bonifacio,  Mar- 
quis of  Montferrat,  brother  of  Conrade ;  and  Geoffroy  de^ 
Villehardouin,  Marshal  of  Champagne,  who  has  left  a  his- 
tory of  the  expedition,  and  is  noted  as  the  first  of  the  many 
French  authors  of  memoirs  of  their  own  time. 

These  nobles  resolved  to  go  direct  to  Palestine  by  sea, 
like  the  two  kings  who  had  preceded  them,  but  as  they 
possessed  neither  ships  nor  money  to  hire  them,  they  re- 
solved to  entreat  the  republic  of  Venice  to  transport  them 
to  the  Holy  Land.  The  Doge  of  Venice  was  at  that  time 
Enrico  Dandolo,  a  noble  old  man,  full  of  spirit  and  enter- 
prise, though  he  was  eighty  years  old,  and  had  lost  his  eye- 
sight from  a  wound  in  the  head.  He  would  gladly  have 
granted  their  request,  but  the  Venetians  were  too  much  of 
merchants  to  grant  favors  for  nothing,  and  he  therefore 
proposed  to  the  Crusaders  to  assist  them  in  recovering  the 


THE    FOURTH    CKUSADE.  81 

town  of  Zara,  which  had  revolted  from  the  power  of  the 
republic,  and  given  itself  to  the  King  of  Hungary,  after 
which  he  promised  that  the  Venetian  fleet  should  carry 
them  to  Palestine. 

The  chiefs  of  the  Crusade  agreed  to  these  terms,  though 
the  Pope  greatly  disapproved  of  their  thus  waiting  to  make 
war  on  Christians,  when  they  were  so  much  needed  in  Pal- 
estine. Dandolo  himself,  in  spite  of  age  and  blindness, 
took  the  Cross,  and  intended  to  accompany  them,  not  only 
to  Zara,  but  to  the  Holy  Land  ;  and  in  five  hundred  large 
vessels  they  set  sail  together.  Zara  was  easily  taken  ;  but 
a  new  object  now  arose  to  occupy  the  Crusaders. 

Isaac  Angelus,  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  had  been  de- 
throned, thrown  into  prison,  and  blinded,  by  his  brother, 
Alexius  Angelus,  who  had  taken  the  name  of  Comnenus. 
His  son,  the  young  Alexius,  a  youth  of  twenty,  came  to 
Venice  just  as  the  fleet  was  about  to  sail,  described  his 
father's  misery,  and  entreated  the  assistance  of  the  Cru- 
saders to  rescue  him  and  recover  his  throne. 

The  Venetians  had  many  causes  of  hatred  to  the  Greeks, 
who  had  oppressed  and  injured  their  merchants  at  Constan- 
tinople, in  favor  of  their  rivals,  the  Genoese ;  and  the 
French  knights  were  dazzled  with  the  glory  of  the  con- 
quest of  the  Eastern  empire,  and  scarcely  regarded  the 
Greeks  as  Christians.  In  spite,  therefore,  of  the  continued 
orders  of  the  Pope,  most  of  them  allowed  themselves  to  be 
turned  aside  from  the  main  object  of  their  expedition, 
promised  their  assistance  to  Alexius,  and,  after  spending  the 
winter  at  Corfu,  sailed  for  Constantinople. 

The  siege  did  not  last  long.  The  Venetians,  with  an  im- 
mense pair  of  shears,  severed  the  chain  which  closed  the 
entrance  of  the  beautiful  harbor  of  the  Golden  Horn,  and 
sailed  safely  in.  The  next  day  the  French  attacked  the 
walls  on  the  land  side,  and  the  Venetains  from  the  sea, 
their  blind  Doge  standing  on  the  prow  of  the  galley  in  full 
armor,  with  the  standard  of  St.  Mark  by  his  side,  and  di- 
recting his  men  ;  whilst  the  Greek  usurper  sat  helpless  on 
the  top  of  the  tower  of  the  Blachernal  palace,  watching 
the  progress  of  the  fight. 

The  Venetians  won  so  many  of  the  towers  which  guarded 

4* 


82  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  VI. 

the  port,  that  Comnenus  gave  himself  up  for  lost,  and  fled 
during  the  night,  taking  with  him  some  of  his  treasures, 
and  his  favorite  daughter.  The  Greeks,  as  soon  as  he  was 
gone,  thinking  that  they  had  better  come  to  terms  with  the 
conquerors,  fetched  old  Isaac  out  of  his  prison,  conducted 
him  to  the  Blachernal,  and  arrayed  him  in  the  imperial 
robes,  while  the  poor  old  blind  man,  who  had  almost  fallen 
into  imbecility,  could  scarcely  be  made  to  understand  what 
-had  happened  to  him. 

The  next  morning  they  threw  open  their  gates,  greeted 
the  young  Alexius  with  acclamations,  led  him  to  share  his 
father's  throne,  and  feasted  the  Franks  in  all  their  houses 
and  streets.  The  two  emperors,  father  and  son,  were 
crowned  together  in  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia  ;  and  to  the 
still  further  delight  of  the  Crusaders,  young  Alexius,  who 
thought  nothing  too  great  a  sacrifice  to  be  made  to  his 
allies,  induced  his  helpless  father  to  give  up  the  indepen- 
dence of  his  Church.  They  caused  the  Patriarch  to  ac- 
knowledge the  authority  of  Pope  Innocent,  to  make  oath 
that  he  would  obey  him  in  all  things,  and  go  himself  to 
Home  to  receive  the  pallium  from  his  hands. 

The  great  mass  of  the  Greeks  thought  this  a  grievous 
apostasy,  and  Alexius  felt  that  he  was  so  insecure  among 
them,  that  he  begged  the  Franks  to  stay  with  him  and  pro- 
tect him ;  they  consented,  and  took  up  their  abode  in  the 
suburbs  of  Pera  and  Galata,  and  this  was  the  furthest  point 
eastward  ever  reached  in  the  fourth  Crusade — which,  indeed, 
hardly  deserves  that  name. 

PART   III.       LATIN    EMPIRE    OF   THE    EAST.    1203-1206. 

Alexius  Angelus  had  mistaken  the  means  of  securing  his 
throne.  There  was  constant  hatred  between  the  Latins  and 
Greeks :  the  former  became  rude  and  lawless,  and  openly 
showed  their  contempt  for  the  cowardly  Greeks ;  while  on 
the  other  hand  the  Greeks  bitterly  felt  their  oppression  at 
once  of  Church  and  State,  and  especially  hated  the  young 
emperor,  as  a  traitor  to  both. 

He  had  spent  so  much  time  in  Italy  and  Germany,  that 
he  had  learnt  to  dislike  the  idle  pomp  and  restraints  with 


LATIN    EMPIKE    OF   THE    EAST.  S3 

which  they  surrounded  the  irftperial  family  ;  he  joined  the 
Frank  nobles  on  equal  terms,  and,  as  his  subjects  thought, 
degraded  himself  by  mingling  in  their  sports.  He  was  one 
day  seen  at  a  feast,  wearing  the  cap  of  a  French  knight, 
whilst  his  imperial  diadem  lay  on  the  ground,  an  insult  to 
their  crown  which  struck  the  Greeks  with  more  horror  than 
any  of  his  former  proceedings. 

A  noble,  named  Alexius  Ducas,  and  called  in  the  Greek 
language  Murzuphlos,  from  his  black  overhanging  eye- 
brows, resolved  to  profit  by  this  discontent ;  he  made  sure 
of  the  support  of  almost  all  the  Greeks,  and  gained  over 
by  a  bribe  the  Varangian  guard.  In  the  middle  of  the 
night  he  awoke  Alexius  by  telling  him  the  Varangians  had 
revolted,  and  were  coming  to  murder  him,  and  offering  to 
conduct  him  to  a  place  of  safety,  led  him  into  the  horrible 
dungeons  beneath  the  Blachernal.  He  then  closed  the 
gates,  caused  all  the  Franks  within  the  city  to  be  murdered, 
and  was  proclaimed  Emperor  of  Constantinople. 

Isaac  Angelus,  who  was  ill  in  bed  at  the  time,  died  of 
grief  and  terror  at  this  new  revolution,  and  his  unfortunate 
son  was  strangled  in  his  dungeon  by  Murzuphlos  himself 

The  Franks  at  Pera  and  Galata  were  of  course  filled 
with  horror  and  indignation,  and  resolved  to  revenge  the 
death  of  their  allies;  but  so  well  had  Murzuphlos  taken 
his  measures,  that  they  were  forced  to  spend  two  months 
in  preparations,  before  they  could  venture  to  storm  the 
walls.  When  they  did  so,  however,  their  success  was  com- 
plete. Murzuphlos,  after  a  brave  resistance,  took  flight, 
and  the  whole  city  fell  into  their  hands.  It  was  given 
up  to  pillage,  and  grievous  were  the  ravages  committed. 
Such  heaps  of  treasures  were  found  in  the  Blachernal,  that 
the  knights  declared  they  could  scarcely  believe  that  there 
was  so  much  gold  in  the  world.  Most  of  the  people  had 
fled,  and  those  who  remained  knelt  in  the  streets,  holding 
up  their  fingers  crossed  to  show  that  they  were  Christians, 
and  calling  out  to  Bonifacio  of  Montferrat,  whom  they 
thought  the  chief  of  the  Franks,  "Holy  King  Marquis, 
have  pity  on  us  !"  The  nobles  did  their  best  to  protect  the 
people  and  the  churches,  and  left  the  gates  open,  to  enable 
all  who  chose  to  escape  and  carry  away  their  property. 


84  LAXDMAEKS    OP    HISTOllY.  [ciIAP.  VI. 

As  soon  as  the  first  confusion  was  over,  the  Franks 
resolved  to  elect  one  of  their  number  to  be  emperor.  The 
Venetians  at  first  thought  of  their  gallant  old  Doge,  but 
changed  their  minds,  lest  the  little  republic,  of  which 
they  were  so  proud,  should  be  lost  in  the  great  empire. 
They  were  afraid,  on  the  other  hand,  to  let  Bonifacio  be 
chosen,  because  his  Italian  possessions  lay  so  near  theirs, 
that  they  feared  he  would  become  too  powerful  a  neighbor ; 
and  Baldwin,  Count  of  Flanders,  was  therefore  chosen  as 
emperor.  The  Marquis  of  Montferrat  was  so  far  from 
being  jealous,  that  he  was  the  first  to  kiss  his  hand,  and  to 
assist  in  raising  him  on  a  shield  to  show  him  to  the  people. 
The  empire  was  divided  into  feudal  tenures,  which  were 
distributed  among  the  nobles ;  the  Venetians  received  in- 
vestiture of  the  Ionian  Islands,  and  of  the  Peloponnesus, 
which  they  called  the  Morea,  because  it  was  of  the  form  of 
a  mulberry  leaf — in  Italian  moro;  and  a  Latin  empire  was 
thus  established  at  Constantinople,  in  1204. 

The  Greeks  in  the  mean  time  had  fled  into  Asia  Minor, 
where  Theodore  Lascaris  became  their  emperor,  and 
reigned  at  Nicea,  keeping  up  the  observances  of  the  Greek 
Catholic  Church.  Their  misfortunes,  by  driving  them 
away  from  the  luxuries  of  Constantinople,  had  a  good 
effect  upon  them,  and  from  that  time  a  higher  and  more 
generous  spirit  was  perceptible  among  them. 

Baldwin  was  pious,  generous,  and  chivalrous,  but  had 
not  sufficient  ability  for  his  position.  After  a  reign  of  two 
years,  he  was  obliged  to  march  against  the  savage  Bulgari- 
ans, and  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner.  His  fate  was  long 
uncertain,  but  sure  tidings  were  at  length  received,  that 
his  enemies  h^d  tortured  him  to  death,  because  he  would 
not  consent  to  deny  the  Christian  faith.  ^  His  brother 
Henri  succeeded  him  as  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  and 
his  daughter  Jeanne  as  Countess  of  Flanders. 

PART  IV.       THE  ALBIGENSES.       1200-1212. 

There  were  few  Crusaders  from  Spain ;  the  nobles  and 
knights  of  that  peninsula  had  full  employment  at  home, 
for  their  whole  life  was  one  continiaed  struggle  y^th  the  In- 


THE    ALBIGENSES.  85 

fidel.  They  had  orders  of  knighthood,  like  those  of  St. 
John  and  the  Temple,  in  honor  of  St.  James,  whose  Spanish 
name  of  San  Jacobo  Apostolo,  they  had  converted  into  San- 
tiago de  Compostella.  Another  order  of  knights  was  called 
that  of  Calatrava,  and  was  equally  renowned  with  that  of 
Santiago.  There  was  a  tradition  that  St.  James  had  been 
martyred  in  Spain,  and  many  legends  related  that  in  the 
midst  of  the  hottest  combats  with  the  Moors,  he  had  ap- 
peared at  the  head  of  the  Christians  on  a  white  horse,  waving 
a  banner  over  his  head,  and  putting  the  enemy  to  flight ; 
and  thus  he  had  become  the  patron  saint  of  Spain,  and  the 
especial  object  of  devotion  in  Castile  and  Aragon. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century,  reigned  Alfonso 
yill.  of  Castile,  whose  power  and  success  were  so  great, 
that  he  assumed  the  title  of  emperor,  as  superior  to  the 
other  three  Christian  kings  of  the  Peninsula.  After  his 
death  the  Christians  lost  ground,  and  suifered  several  de- 
feats ;  and  at  length  the  Moors  invited  to  their  aid  Mirama- 
molin.  Emperor  of  Morocco,  who  came  with  an  overwhelm- 
ing force,  expecting  to  sweep  away  the  Christians  before 
him  as  in  the  time  of  Rodrigo  the  Goth. 

The  Christians  united  their  forces  against  him.  Alfonso 
IX.,  of  Castile,  Pedro  II.,  of  Aragon,  and  Sancho  VII.,  of 
Navarre,  met  as  for  a  holy  war,  anol  marched  against  him 
towards  the  Guadalquivir.  A  shepherd  guided  them 
through  a  mountain  pass,  and  enabled  them  to  fall  suddenly 
on  his  camp  at  Navas  de  Tolosa.  It  was  a  long  and  well- 
contested  battle ;  the  kings  fought  like  simple  knights,  and 
every  man  did  his  utmost.  The  Navarrese  broke  through 
the  chain  of  guards  round  the  tent  of  Miramamolin,  and 
forced  him  to  fly;  160,000  Moors  were  slain,  and  so  com- 
plete a  victory  was  gained,  as  broke  the  Arab  power  in 
Spain,  though  they  kept  possession  of  a  kingdom  there  for 
two  hundred  years  longer. 

During  these  combats  with  the  Mahometans,  a  foe  was 
in  the  mean  time  growing  up  in  the  midst  of  the  Christian 
States,  and  especially  in  the  Pyrencan  kingdoms  of  Aragon 
and  Navarre,  the  neighboring  counties  of  Toulouse  and 
Provence,  and  the  north  of  Italy. 

In  the  seventh  century,  a  heresy  had  arisen  in  the  Greek 


86  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTOUY.  [cHAP.  VI. 

empire,  called  the  Manichsean,  and  taking  for  its  root  the 
old  Egyptian  principle  of  a  source  of  good  and  a  source  of 
evil,  it  blasphemously  declared  that  He  who  is  revealed  in 
the  Old  Testament  was  the  source  of  evil,  and  opposed  to 
Him  of  the  New  Testament,  who  was  the  source  of  good. 
The  Manicheans  forbade  Holy  Baptism  and  marriage,  and 
their  profanities  of  every  kind  were  dreadful.  The  Greek 
emperors  had  banished  them  to  a  desert  in  Thrace,  and  no 
more  was  heard  of  the  heresy;  but  it  appears  that  it  had 
smouldered  on,  and  in  the  early  part  of  the  twelfth  century 
it  was  discovered  that  a  great  number  of  persons,  both  in 
the  regions  of  the  Alps  and  Pyrenees,  were  infected  with  it. 
Those  in  Italy  were  called  Paterini ;  those  in  France  and 
Spain,  Albigenses,  from  Alby,  a  town  in  Provence.  Al- 
though the  Albigenses  were  so  heretical  in  their  belief,  their 
lives  were  so  much  purer  than  those  of  many  around  them, 
and  they  protested  so  strongly  against  the  wicked  lives  of 
the  priests,  that  a  very  strong  feeling  was  excited. 

Innocent  HI.  felt  that  it  was  time  to  take  vigorous  means 
against  them  ;  and  his  princij^al  assistants  were  two  monks, 
whose  names  have  always  been  held  in  the  highest  honor 
in  the  Romish  Church.  St.  Francis,  the  son  of  a  rich 
merchant  of  Assisi,  in  the  north  of  Italy,  devoted  himself, 
while  very  young,  to  a  life  of  the  strictest  piety  and  poverty. 
His  character  was  beautifully  gentle  and  devout,  and  his 
aim  was  to  support  and  strengthen  the  Church  in  the  best 
and  purest  way,  by  making  her  own  members  more  holy 
and  self-denying.  He-  established  three  orders,  called  from 
his  name,  Franciscans,  and  whose  badge  was  the  knotted 
cord  worn  round  the  waist.  The  first  was  of  brethren  or 
friars,  who  were  to  be  always  barefoot,  whose  poverty  was 
guarded  by  the  most  stringent  regulations,  and  who  were 
absolutely  to  beg  their  bread.  They  were  not  subject  to 
abbots  of  each  convent,  but  to  a  general  of  the  order, 
who  sent  them  to  travel  from  place  to  place,  preaching  to 
the  people.  They  often  did  much  good,  but  at  the  same 
time  they  produced  much  mischief,  by  interfering  with  the 
regular  clergy.  The  second  order  was  of  nuns,  also  called 
the  order  of  St.  Clara ;  and  the  third,  of  persons  living 
with  their  families,  and  engaged  in  secular  occupations,  and 


THE   ALBIGEXSES.  87 

only  bound  by  an  especial  vow  to  the  service  of  the  Church, 
and  to  say  certain  prayers  at  particular  times. 

St.  Dominic  was  a  Castilian,  and  his  attention  was  par- 
ticularly turned  to  the  Albigenses.  He  was  a  more  harsh 
and  stern  man  than  St.  Francis,  though  not  less  pious  and 
devout.  He,  too,  established  an  order  of  mendicant  friars, 
and  so  served  the  Church,  that  Innocent  HI.  dreamt  that 
he  saw  these  two  men  supporting  the  Cathedral  of  St. 
Peter  on  their  shoulders.  Finding  that  preaching  did  not 
avail  to  convince  the  Albigenses,  Innocent  had  recourse  to 
the  means  which  St.  Ambrose  had  long  ago  condemned. 
He  was  the  first  to  stain  the  Church  with  persecution.  He 
established  a  body  of  clergy,  chiefly  Dominicans,  who  were 
charged  to  inquire  out  the  errors  in  men's  faith,  to  seek  by 
every  means  to  convince  them,  and  if  they  were  obstinate, 
"  to  deliver  them  over  to  the  secular  arai,"  namely,  to  call 
in  the  temporal  power  to  put  them  to  death.  This  tribunal 
was  called  the  Inquisition,  and  as  the  Paterini  of  Italy 
were  chiefly  of  the  lower  ranks,  before  many  years  were 
past  they  were  entirely  extinguished,  either  put  to  death, 
or  forced  to  renounce  their  errors. 

The  Albigenses  were  not  so  easily  put  down,  for  many 
powerful  nobles  were  of  their  number,  and  the  Count  of 
Toulouse  and  the  King  of  Aragon  themselves,  if  not  in- 
clined to  the  heresy,  were  doubtful  of  the  right  of  the 
clergy  to  persecute  them.  Innocent  therefore  proclaimed 
a  crusade,  the  first  ever  preached,  except  against  the  Ma- 
hometans ;  and  many  warriors,  willing  to  obtain  the  in- 
dulgences he  promised  on  easier  terms  than  a  journey  to 
Palestine,  took  arms  under  Simon,  Count  de  Montfort,  a 
stern  old  Poitevin,  devout  in  his  habits,  but  fierce  and  cruel 
in  his  temper. 

They  committed  dreadful  excesses,  ravaging  the  country 
and  massacring  the  inhabitants,  just  as  they  had  learned 
to  do  in  Palestine  with  the  Saracens ;  and  unhappily  there 
were  some  of  the  clergy  who  spurred  them  on.  At  Beziers, 
where  the  Albigenses  were  mixed  with  the  Catholic  inhabit- 
ants, Simon  de  Montfort  asked  the  Abbot  of  Citeaux  how 
he  should  distinguish  one  from  the  other ;  and  the  horrible 
answer  was,  "Kill  them  all;  Heaven  will  know  its  own." 


88  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  VI. 

Raymond  Roger,  Count  of  Toulouse,  interfered  in  de- 
fence of  his  unhappy  vassals,  but  was  made  prisoner  by 
Simon  de  Montfort,  and  died  in  his  hands.  Simon  obtained 
investiture  of  several  of  the  provinces  which  he  had  desola- 
ted, and  showed  an  intention  of  establishing  an  indepen- 
dent sovereignty ;  upon  which  the  new  Count  of  Toulouse 
and  Pedro,  King  of  Aragon,  put  themselves  at  the  head  of 
their  forces,  and  of  all  the  scattered  Albigenses,  and  at- 
tacked him ;  but  at  Muret  they  met  with  a  total  overthrow, 
in  1212,  and  the  King  of  Aragon  himself  was  among  the 
slain. 

The  inhabitants  of  Southern  France  had  always  been 
more  advanced  in  civilization  than  the  descendants  of  the 
fierce  Franks,  who  occupied  the  northern  and  the  central 
parts  of  that  country  ;  so  different  were  they  still,  that  the 
war  against  the  Albigenses  was  not  only  a  religious  war, 
but  one  carried  on  for  purposes  of  conquest.  Terrible  as 
were  the  measures  used,  they  were  unsuccessful. 

PART   V.       CLOSE    OP    INNOCENT's    REIGN.       1212-1223.         " 

Innocent  III.  had  in  the  mean  time  been  stretching  out 
his  grasping  hands  over  England,  and  had  laid  King  John 
and  his  people  under  an  interdict,  for  refusing  to  receive 
Stephen  Langton  from  his  hands  as  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. 

He  likewise  was  much  displeased  with  Otho  of  Saxony, 
the  Guelfic  emperor  of  Germany,  for  refusing  to  give  up  to 
Rome  the  inheritance  of  the  Countess  Matilda,  and  for 
claiming  the  right  of  lay-investiture.  After  laying  this 
emperor  under  sentence  of  excommunication,  he  advised 
the  electors  to  raise  to  the  imperial  throne  the  young 
Frederick  of  Swabia,  King  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  and  son  of 
the  last  emperor,  Heinrich  YI.  Philippe  Auguste,  who 
had  been  on  good  terms  with  the  Pope  ever  since  he  had 
separated  from  Agnes  de  Meranie,  was  called  upon  by  him 
to  attack  both  these  excommunicated  princes ;  and  though 
John,  in  the  extremity  of  his  distress,  made  his  peace  with 
Rome,  by  not  only  receiving  Cardinal  Langton,  but  con- 
senting to  hold  his  crown  as  a  vassal  of  the  Pope,  Philippe 


CLOSE  OF  inxocent's  eeign.  80 

nevertheless  invaded  Poitou,  and  threatened  to  deprive 
him  of  it,  as  well  as  Normandy. 

Jolm  and  Otho,  who  were  uncle  and  nephew,  made  com- 
mon cause ;  and  John,  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  crossed 
the  sea,  and  united  his  forces  with  the  Germans.  Philippe 
marched  to  meet  them  in  Flanders,  where  the  great  battle 
of  Bouvines  was  fought  in  1213.  The  Germans  at  one 
time  so  pressed  round  Philippe  that  he  was  wounded,  and 
his  horse  killed.  With  great  difficulty  he  was  rescued  by 
his  knights,  and  mounting  another  horse,  charged  the  ene- 
my so  vigorously  that  Otho  fled  at  full  speed,  Philippe  say- 
ing, "  We  shall  see  no  more  of  him  but  his  back." 

Our  own  cowardly  John  had  likewise  fled  early  in  the 
day,  and,  returning  to  England,  so  provoked  his  barons 
by  his  further  oppressions  that  they  rose  against  him,  and 
forced  from  him  the  signature  of  Magna  Charta,  which  re- 
stored to  England  her  old  Saxon  laws.  He  broke  his  oaths 
as  soon  as  they  were  made,  and  the  barons  called  to  their 
aid  Louis  the  Lion,  eldest  son  of  Philippe  Auguste,  and 
the  husband  of  Blanche,  eldest  daughter  of  Alfonso  VIIL 
of  Castile,  and  of  Eleanor,  John's  sister. 

As  John  was  under  the  protection  of  the  Pope,  Philippe 
would  not  openly  attack  him  on  his  own  account,  but  he 
gave  permission  to  his  son  to  undertake  the  enterprise,  with 
as  many  knights  as  chose  to  accompany  him.  Philippe 
saw  the  vengeance  he  had  promised  himself  in  early  youth 
complete,  for  in  1216,  at  the  time  when  the  last  son  of 
Henry  II.  died  of  vexation  in  a  remote  convent,  Louis  was 
ir)  possession  of  London,  and  Normandy  had  long  been  in 
the  hands  of  Philippe. 

In  the  same  year  died  Innocent  HI.  at  Perugia,  after  a 
career  which  Roman  Catholics  themselves  condemn  as  too 
ambitious  and  too  much  engrossed  with  temporal  aflairs. 
He  had  excommunicated  the  Emperor,  the  Kings  of  Eng- 
.  land,  France,  and  Aragon,  and  had  done  more  than  any 
other  pontiff  to  extend  the  sway  of  the  See  of  Rome. 

After  the  battle  of  Bouvines,  Otho  was  abandoned  by  all 
his  subjects,  and  died  in  retirement  in  the  year  1218. 
Philippe  Auguste  was  the  last  survivor  of  these  contempo- 
rary sovereigns.     He  made  a  second  attack  on  the  Albigen- 


90  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  VII. 

ses,  and  likewise  reduced  the  dangerous  power  which  Simon 
de  Montfort*  had  established.  He  died  in  the  year  1223, 
much  resi3ected  by  his  subjects,  in  spite  of  his  faults  of 
cr^liness  and  ambition,  for  he  was  a  lover  of  order,  and 
caused  the  laws  to  be  strictly  observed ;  he  protected  the 
lower  orders  from  the  oppression  of  the  nobility,  and  greatly 
favored  the  burghers.  He  walled  in  and  improved  the  city 
of  Paris  in  several  important  respects,  and  rebuilt  the  ca- 
thedral of  Notre  Dame,  nearly  as  it  now  stands. 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

THE  EXTINCTION  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  SWABIA. 

1225-1289. 

PART  L       THE   FIFTH  AND  SIXTH  CRUSADES.       1217-1229. 

The  contemporary  princes  of  Europe  in  the  year  1225  were 
— in  Germany,  Frederick  II. ;  in  England,  Henry  HI., 
scarcely  yet  out  of  his  minority ;  in  France,  Louis  VIII., 
called  the  Lion,  a  brave  but  not  an  able  man,  who  died 
after  a  reign  of  seven  years,  in  the  midst  of  a  war  with 
Raymond  of  Toulouse  and  the  Albigenses,  leaving  his  son 
Louis  IX.,  a  boy  ten  years  old,  under  the  guardianship 
of  his  widow,  Blanche  of  Castile.  In  Spain,  St.  Fernando, 
a  brave  and  pious  monarch,  reigned  in  Castile;  and  in-Ara- 
gon,  Jayme,  who  had  been  left  an  orphan  at  three  years 
old,  when  his  father,  Pedro  II.,  was  killed  at  Muret,  had 
grown  up  to  be  one  of  the  ablest  and  best  monarchs  in 
Christendom.  At  twelve  years  old  he  had  taken  the  gov- 
ernment upon  himself,  and  ruled  his  subjects,  and  made 
treaties,  with  astonishing  wisdom. 

Frederick  II.,  called  Friedrich  of  Ilohenstaufen  in  Ger- 
many, and  Frederico  Rogero  in  Sicily,  was  the  most  promi- 

♦  The  father  of  Simon  de  Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester. 


THE    FIFTH    AND    SIXTH    CRUSADES.  91 

nent  character  in  Europe.  He  was  very  brave,  but  at  the 
same  time  he  had  inherited  much  of  that  wily  disposition 
which  had  characterized  his  Norman  ancestors  in  Sicily : 
his  mind  was  his^hly  cultivated,  and  he  had  so  much  more 
humanity  than  his  contemporaries,  that  in  this  respect  he 
contrasts  favorably  with  them ;  but  he  was  a  sensual  self- 
indulgent  man,  addicted  to  many  vices.  His  wars  with  the 
Church,  and  contempt  for  her  authority,  were  without 
doubt  very  blamable,  but  both  they  and  his  other  faults 
are  to  a  certain  degree  excused,  when  we  remember  that  he 
was  first  injured  and  ill-used  by  the  popes,  merely  because 
he  was  an  emperor,  and  a  Ghibelline  by  birth ;  and  when 
the  power  of  the  Church  was  thus  misused,  it  was  no  won- 
der that  her  moral  precepts  lost  their  authority. 

He  had  been  raised  to  the  throne  by  the  popes  because 
they  were  oftended  with  Otho  of  Saxony,  and  he  enjoyed 
their  favor  till  the  downfall  of  his  rival ;  but  no  sooner  was 
Otho  no  longer  dangerous,  than  the  popes  only  saw  in 
Frederick  the  head  of  their  old  enemies,  tke  House  of 
Swabia,  and  the  child  of  the  forbidden  marnage  of  Cos- 
tanza  of  Sicily.  His  power  in  Sicily  was  so  much  better 
established  than  that  of  any  of  his  predecessors,  that  he 
was  very  formidable.  He  had  repressed  the  lawlessness  of 
his  N^orman-Sicilian  barons,  and  had  overcome  a  colony  of 
Saracens  in  the  mountains  of  Sicily,  who  had  remained -there 
ever  since  the  time  of  Roger  de  Hauteville,  never  reduced, 
continually  reinforced  by  Moors  from  Africa,  and  grievously 
harassing  the  Sicilians  both  by  land  and  s^a. 

Frederick  conquered  these  Saracens,  and  transplanted  the 
whole  colony  into  Apulia,  where  he  settled  them  in  the 
cities  of  Lucera  and  Nocera.  He  treated  them  so  kindly, 
that  they  became  much  attached  to  him,  and  served  him 
most  faithfully  in  war ;  but  those  men  who  slaughtered  the 
Albigenses  were  ready  to  believe  him  a  Saracen  himself, 
because  he  spared  their  lives. 

He  promised,  on  receiving  the  imperial  crown,  to  under- 
take a  Crusade  for  the  deliverance  of  the  Holy  Land. 
Since  the  time  of  the  Fourth  Crusade,  Queen  Isabella  of 
Jerusalem,  and  her  husband,  Amaury  de  Lusignan,  had 
both  died.     Cyprus,  his  k^gdom,  descended  to  Hugh,  the 


92  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTOKY.  [CHAP.  VII. 

son  of  his  first  wife,  and  her  rights  to  the  throne  of  Jeru- 
salem to  her  daughter  Mary. 

A  gallant  old  French  knight,  named  Jean  de  Brienne, 
was  chosen  to  be  the  husband  of  the  young  queen,  and  he 
fought  bravely,  but  he  had  not  sufficient  forces  to  make 
any  advances,  and  the  utmost  he  could  effect  with  the  aid 
of  the  Orders  of  St.  John  and  the  Temple  was  the  protec- 
tion of  the  three  remaining  cities  on  the  coast. 

In  1217,  Andrew,  King  of  Hungary,  undertook  a  fifth 
Crusade,  but  he  had  only  just  set  out  when  his  wife  was 
murdered  by  one  of  the  nobles,  whom  she  had  offended  by 
assisting  her  brother  in  some  wicked  designs  on  his  wife. 
The  poor  king,  a  humble  and  pious  man,  pursued  his  jour- 
ney, but  was  too  much  broken  down  by  grief  to  exert  him- 
self, and  spent  his  time  at  Acre  in  devout  observances, 
instead  of  attacking  the  Saracens. 

Mary  of  Jerusalem  died,  leaving  a  daughter  of  ten  years 
old,  named  Yolande;  and  Frederick,  though  he  was  her 
elder  by  twenty  years,  married  her,  and  took  the  title  of 
King  of  Jenisalem. 

He  collected  a  great  force,  and  sailed  from  Brindisi,  in 
1227,  but  a  violent  storm  forced  him  to  put  in  at  Tarento, 
where  both  he  and  many  of  his  troops  were  attacked  with 
severe  illness,  which  caused  many  deaths  ;  and  though  the 
emperor  recovered,  he  was  disabled,  both  by  his  own  weak- 
ness and  the  loss  of  his  men,  from  proceeding  at  that  time. 

Gregory  IX.,  who  had  just  been  chosen  Pope,  treated  all 
this  as  an  excuse  for  tardiness,  and  excommunicated  him, 
without  regard  to  his  appeals.  The  next  spring  he  assem- 
bled another  army,  and  actually  arrived  at  Acre,  whither 
he  was  immediately  followed  by  orders  from  Gregory,  that 
neither  Templars,  Hospitallers,  nor  any  Frank  of  Palestine, 
should  obey  him,  he  being  an  excommunicated  person. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Pope  stirred  up  the  Guelf  towns 
in  Italy  to  revolt,  and  ravage  Frederick's  dominions,  so 
that  the  emperor,  irritated  and  prevented  from  acting, 
was  only  anxious  to  return  to  Europe  and  take  his  revenge. 

Malek-ul-Caumel,  the  Sultan  of  Damascus,  was  a  gallant 
prince,  and  with  him  Frederick  treated  with  more  confi- 
dence than  he  could  feel  in  the  phristians  around  him,  for 


FREDEKICK    II.  ,  93 

the  generous  Sultan  had  sent  him  a  letter  from  the  Tem- 
plars, treacherously  oifering  to  conduct  the  Saracens  to  a 
place  where  they  might  seize  the  person  of  the  emperor, 
while  he  was  bathing  in  the  Jordan. 

By  the  treaty  with  this  prince,  Frederick  obtained  that 
Jerusalem  should  be  delivered  up  to  the  Christians,  who 
might  fortify  it  again,  and  take  possession  of  all  the 
churches,  with  the  exception  of  the  Mosque  of  Omar.  The 
pilgrims  were  rendered  secure,  and  the  Christians  returned 
to  the  convents,  while  Frederick  entered  Jerusalem  in 
triumph,  and  celebrated  his  coronation  in  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre ;  but  as  he  was  under  the  ban  of  the 
Pope,  no  ecclesiastic  would  perforin  the  ceremony.  He 
was  forced  to  take  the  crown  from  the  altar  and  put  it  on 
his  own  head ;  and  the  Latin  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  laid 
the  Church  under  an  interdict. 

Frederick  returned  to  Italy;  and  as  the  Templars  and 
Hospitallers  would  not  observe  any  truce,  as  soon  as  he 
was  gone  the  war  broke  out  again,  and  his  treaties  pro- 
duced no  efiect. 

Jean  de  Brienne  was  at  the  same  time  invited  to  Con- 
stantinople, to  act  as  regent  for  the  young  Latin  emperor, 
Baldwin  de  Courtenai,  the  son  of  Pierre  de  Courtenai,  who 
had  succeeded  Henri  of  Flanders,  and  had  been  treaclier- 
ously  slain  by  the  Epirots.  Jean,  who  was  past  eighty, 
did  not  show  much  vigor  in  his  new  post,  and  the  Latin 
empire  day  by  day  became  more  feeble. 

PART    II.       FREDERICK    II.       1229-1250. 

Frederick,  on  his  return  from  the  Holy  Land,  easily 
quelled  the  Italians,  and  asked  a  reconciliation  with  the 
Church,  which  Gregory  IX.  found  himself  obliged  to 
grant.  For  the  next  fifteen  years  Frederick  lived  in 
Apulia,  leading  a  life  of  ease  and  pleasure,  and  at  the  same 
time  spending  much  time  in  study.  He  had  brought  home 
an  Arabic  translation  of  Aristotle,  which  was  rendered  into 
Latin  by  a  Scotsman  from  the  English  border,  Michael 
Scott,  who  lived  at  Frederick's  court ;  and  from  that  time 
this  book  became  the  study  of  learned  men.     Learning  was 


94  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [ciIAP.  VII. 

at  this  time  beginning  fast  to  revive;  there  was  a  great 
University  at  Bologna,  for  the  study  of  science  and  juris- 
prudence (chiefly  the  Code  of  Justinian;)  and  Frederick 
did  his  utmost  to  establish  such  another  at  Naples,  but  it 
never  took  root  there.  Everywhere,  however,  the  rude 
ignorance  of  former  times  was  passing  away,  and  a  know- 
ledge of  reading,  writing,  and  the  Latin  tongue,  was 
becoming  general  among  nobles  and  knights. 

Frederick's  son  by  his  first  wife,  Heinrich,  who  was  only 
sixteen  years  younger  than  himself,  governed  for  him  in 
Germany,  until  he  became  discontented  with  the  share  of 
authority  allowed  to  him,  and  was  stirred  up  by  the 
Milanese  and  some  of  the  German  princes  to  rebel  against 
his  father.  Frederick  marched  into  Germany,  defeated  him, 
and  sent  him  prisoner  to  Calabria,  where  he  died. 

Frederick  proceeded  to  attack  the  Milanese,  and  the  other 
Guelfic  towns  which  had  favored  his  son.  The  mountain 
lords  of  Lombardy,  and  in  especial  the  savage  Eccelino 
Marchese  di  Romano,  favored  him ;  but  all  the  towns  were 
his  enemies,  excepting  Pavia  and  Pisa ;  and  the  war  lasted 
a  long  time.  Pope  Gregory  IX.  excommunicated  him 
again,  calling  him  a  traitor  and  a  heretic ;  and  the  sentence 
was  renewed  by  his  successor.  Innocent  lY.,  though  he  had 
previously  been  a  friend  of  the  emperor. 

Innocent  IV.  was  one  of  the  most  violent  of  all  the  per- 
secutors of  the  House  of  Swabia  ;  he  fled  secretly  to  Lyons, 
and  there  convoked  a  council  of  bishops  from  England, 
France,  and  Italy,  in  which  he  solemnly  declared  Frederick 
to  be  deposed  from  all  his  thrones.  When  this  information 
was  brought  to  the  emperor,  he  desired  his  jewels  to  be 
brought,  and  putting  on  one  of  his  crowns,  he  exclaimed, 
"  No,  indeed,  my  crown  is  not  yet  lost ;  nor  shall  it  be  till 
much  blood  has  flowed." 

The  Pope  tried  to  excite  Louis  IX.  of  France  to  attack 
the  emperor,  but  in  vain ;  for  Louis,  though  very  devout, 
knew  his  own  duty  too  well  to  allow  himself  to  fancy  he 
was  fighting  the  battles  of  the  Church,  when  gratifying 
the  hatred  of  the  Pope.  He  strove  rather  to  reconcile  the 
contending  parties ;  and  Frederick  even  promised  submis- 
sion, and  to  lead  another  army  to  Palestine,  but  all  in  vain ; 


THE    SEVEXTH    CEUSADE.  95 

the  Pope  was  obstinate,  and  Louis,  who  was  intent  on  a 
new  crusade,  was  forced  to  give  up  his  attempts  at  peace- 
making. 

For  "three  years  Frederick  struggled  against  his  Italian 
enemies  ;  but  he  was  growing  old,  and  though  his  courage 
was  not  broken,  he  had  lost  his  hopefulness  and  energy. 
Heinz,  one  of  his  sons,  whom  he  had  made  King  of  Sar- 
dinia, a  fine  young  man  of  two-and-twenty,  was  taken  cap- 
tive by  the  Genoese,  and  was  never  released  ;  the  German 
princes  and  free  towns  were  all  at  war ;  and  in  Calabria  and 
Sicily  alone  was  he  obeyed  or  respected.  A  second  time 
did  Louis  of  France,  in  the  midst  of  his  crusade,  write  to 
the  Pope,  to  entreat  him  to  absolve  the  worn-out  and  hum- 
bled emperor,  who  had  just  sent  supplies  to  save  the  Chris- 
tian army  from  perishing  with  hunger ;  but  Innocent  was 
inflexible;  and  on  the  13th  of  December,  1250,  Frederick 
died  at  Ferentino,  in  Apulia,  still  excommunicated,  a  guilty 
man,  indeed,  but  suftering  from  the  guilt  of  those  whose 
duty  it  was  to  have  led  him  to  repentance,  and  brought  him 
to  accept  pardon  and  peace. 

PART   III.       THE    SEVENTH    CEUSADE.        1248-1254. 

In  the  midst  of  the  dissensions  of  kings  and  emperors,  and 
while  the  Church  of  Rome  was  degrading  herself  by 
grasping  at  power  never  given  to  her  from  above,  and 
repelling,  instead  of  receiving,  the  penitent,  two  monarchs 
were  lifting  up  their  lights  in  the  world,  and  shining  forth 
among  men,  so  as  to  show  by  their  conduct  what  a  king 
ought  to  be,  better  than  any  fancied  picture  tliat  could  be 
devised.  These  were  St.  Fernando,  in  Castile,  and  his 
cousin  St.  Louis  in  France,  both  grandsons  of  the  Emperor 
Alfonso  VII.,  and  of  our  Princess  Eleanor  Plantagenet. 
Their  mothers,  Berenguela,  Queen  of  Castile  and  Leon,  and 
Blanche,  Queen  of  France,  were  sisters,  both  women  of 
admirable  piety  and  ability,  and  both  were  early  called  to 
exercise  the  sole  guardianship  of  their  children, — Blanche, 
by  the  early  death  of  her  husband,  and  Berenguela  by 
a   still   greater   misfortune,   for    her   husband,  Alfonso  of 


96  LANDMxiKKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  VI J 

Leon,  took  a  dislike  to  her,  and  obtained  a  decree  froii! 
Innocent  III.,  annulling  their  marriage,  because  they  wer., 
cousins. 

Fernando's  life  was  chiefly  spent  in  brave  and  successful 
combats  with  the  Moors,  which  so  exhausted  his  treasury, 
that  he  was  advised  to  lay  additional  taxes  on  his  subjects. 
"  God  forbid,"  he  answered,  "  that  I  should  follow  such 
counsel.  His  providence  will  assist  me  by  other  means.  I 
fear  the  cry  of  one  poor  woman,  more  than  a  whole  army 
of  Moors."  His  trust  was  fulfilled ;  he  took  from  the 
Moors  the  three  beautiful  kingdoms  of  Seville,  Murcia,  and 
Jaen,  and  the  city  of  Cordova,  which  became  the  capital 
of  Castile,  whilst  a  fresh  kingdom  was  founded  by  the 
Moors  at  Granada.  This  excellent  king  died  in  1252,  leav- 
ing several  sons,  and  a  daughter  worthy  of  such  a  father, 
our  own  Eleanor  of  Castile. 

Louis  IX.  of  France  was,  until  his  twenty- third  year,  un- 
der the  regency  of  his  mother,  Blanche,  whom  he  respected  so 
much,  that  he  never  attempted  to  take  the  government  out 
of  her  hands.  It  was  during  her  regency  that  the  resist- 
ance of  the  Albigenses  was  finally  overcome,  and  their 
heresy  so  put  down,  that  it  is  not  again  mentioned  in  his- 
tory. Raymond,  the  last  Count  of  Toulouse,  was  in  such 
disgrace  for  having  protected  them,  and  his  power  so  much 
reduced,  that  he  could  only  retain  his  dominions  by  means 
of  a  treaty,  by  which  he  pledged  himself  to  leave  them  all 
to  his  daughter  Jeanne,  who  married  Alfonso,  one  of  the 
younger  children  of  Louis  VIII. 

The  justice  and  beneficence  of  Louis  IX.  won  for  him  the 
love  of  all  his  subjects,  and  the  respect  of  his  neighbors. 
His  justice  was  shown  in  his  personal  conduct  as  much  as 
in  his  judgments,  and  in  a  very  rare  manner,  for  he  made 
restitution  to  his  crown  vassals  of  all  that  had  been  unfairly 
taken  from  them  by  his  grandfather,  Philippe  Auguste  ;  and 
lie  would  even  have  restored  Normandy  to  Ileiiry  III.  of 
England,  if  it  had  not  been  decided  by  a  council  of  bishops 
that  it  had  justly  been  forfeited  by  King  John.  For  cen- 
turies after  his  subjects  gloried  in  showing  the  oak-tree  of 
Vincennes,  where  Saint  Louis  used  to  sit  upon  the  grass, 
administering  justice,  and  hearing  the  cause  of  the  poor  as 


THE    SEVEXTH    CRUSADE.  97 

kindly  and  with  as  much  attention  as  that  of  the  noblest 
and  wealthiest. 

Louis  IX.,  his  brother  Charles  Count  of  Anjou,  Henry 
III.,  and  his  brother  Richard  Earl  of  Cornwall,  had  mar- 
ried the  four  daughters  and  joint  heiresses  of  the  last  Count 
of  Provence,  and  it  was  agreed  between  them  that,  as  two 
of  the  sisters  were  queens,  and  as  the  Earl  of  Cornwall  was 
the  richest  prince  in  Europe,  the  Countess  of  Anjou  should 
inherit  her  father's  territory  of  Provence.  All  the  four 
were  in  general  exceedingly  aifectionate,  though  this  per- 
haps was  chiefly  owing  to  Louis,  who  often  forbore  to  take 
advantages  which  fairly  might  have  been  his,  that  there 
might  be  no  causes  of  jealousy  among  their  children. 

In  the  year  1243,  Louis  had  a  dangerous  illness,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  made  a  vow  that  he  would  undertake  a 
Crusade.  He  renewed  the  vow  as  soon  as  he  recovered, 
and  spent  the  next  five  years  in  preparations,  and,  as  has 
been  shown,  striving  in  vain  to  reconcile  the  Pope  and  the 
Emperor,  and  unite  them  in  the  same  cause.  In  1248,  he 
sailed  for  Marseilles  with  his  wife.  Queen  Marguerite,  his 
young  son  Philippe,  and  his  three  brothers,  at  the  head  of 
a  large  army.  They  arrived  at  Cyprus,  and  there  spent 
the  winter ;  and  it  was  determined  that  instead  of  as  usual 
going  to  the  Holy  Land,  he  should  attack  the  Saracens  in 
the  seat  of  their  empire  in  Egypt,  and  there  overthrow 
their  power. 

He  therefore  sailed  for  the  Nile,  and  took  Damietta, 
where  the  queen  and  her  children  were  left,  while  the  king 
advanced  upon  Cairo,  the  abode  of  the  Sultan.  The  great 
strength  of  the  Egyptian  army  consisted  in  the  Mamelukes, 
slaves  brought  from  the  cooler  and  more  hilly  countries, 
carefully  trained  to  arms,  and  never  recruited  from  among 
persons  born  in  the  enervating  climate  of  Egypt.  These 
were  formidable  warriors  ;  and  the  Saracens  also  possessed 
the  art  of  making  that  horrible  and  mysterious  compound, 
the  Greek  fire,  with  which  in  the  time  of  Heraclius  the 
Persians  had  been  driven  from  Constantinople.  When  the 
Crusaders  had  advanced  as  far  as  Mansourah,  they  found 
themselves  completely  shut  in  by  enemies,  and  unable  to 
proceed.     Robert,  the  king's  brother,  was  slain  in  battle, 

5 


98  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  VII. 

and  with  him  great  numbers  of  other  nobles  and  knights  ; 
and  severe  sickness  broke  out  in  the  army,  cooped  up  on 
the  banks  of  the  Nile.  Louis  himself  was  very  ill ;  the 
enemy  harassed  them  on  all  sides,  and  the  Greek  fire  was 
continually  thrown  into  the  camp,  burning  all  that  it 
touched.  Whenever  the  king  heard  it  thrown,  he  sat  up 
in  bed,  and,  with  clasped  hands,  prayed  that  his  people 
might  be  spared. 

At  last  it  was  resolved  to  retreat :  the  sick  were  placed 
in  the  boats,  and  the  healthy  were  to  protect  them  on  the 
bank.  The  king,  though  hardly  able  to  stand,  wore  his 
armor,  and  rode  among  his  knights,  but  before  they  had 
made  much  progress,  the  enemy  overtook  them,  massacred 
all  the  sick  whom  they  thought  unable  to  pay  a  ransom, 
and  overcame  the  feeble  resistance  of  the  rest  of  the  army. 
Louis  was  so  exhausted,  that  one  of  his  knights,  who  alone 
remained  with  him,  was  obliged  to  lift  him  from  his  horse, 
and  having  laid  him  on  the  ground,  with  his  head  in  the 
lap  of  a  woman  who  had  followed  the  army  from  Damietta, 
he  watched  him,  expecting  each  moment  to  see  him  breathe 
his  last.  The  Saracens  coming  up,  Louis  surrendered  him- 
self to  them,  and  was  carried  to  a  wretched  little  hut, 
where  for  many  weeks  he  continued  very  ill,  with  no  one 
to  attend  him  save  two  priests,  whose  office  he  held  in  such 
honor,  that  he  would  hardly  suffer  them  to  do  him  any  service. 

After  many  negotiations,  and  much  disputing  among  the 
Saracens,  it  was  at  length  agreed  that  Louis  should  be 
released,  with  all  his  followers,  on  condition  of  his  restor- 
ing Damietta  to  the  Saracens,  and  paying  a  considerable 
ransom.  He  was  conducted  up  the  Nile,  and,  after  some 
further  delay,  he  succeeded  in  borrowing  the  money  of  the 
Templars ;  after  which  he  was  allowed  to  embark,  and  was 
restored  to  his  wife  Marguerite,  who  had  suffered  dread- 
fully during  his  absence  from  anxiety  and  terror.  Her  son, 
iwho  was  born  during  this  time  of  suspense,  was  named 
Tristan,  and  the  day  after  his  birth  she  had  been  obliged  to 
use  the  most  piteous  entreaties  to  the  hired  Genoese  who 
had  been,  left  to  defend  Damietta,  not  to  go  away  and 
leave  the  town  to  the  enemy,  which  would  have  been 
certain  destruction  to  both  her  and  her  husband. 


MANFEED    OF    SICILY.  99 

On  leaving  Egypt,  Louis  went  to  Acre,  but  liis  forces 
were  so  much  wasted  by  his  misfortunes,  that  he  could  do 
nothing  for  the  Crusaders  but  rebuild  their  walls  and 
strengthen  their  fortifications.  He  lingered  in  Palestine, 
unwilling  to  give  up  the  hope  of  rescuing  the  Holy  City, 
until  he  was  recalled  to  France  by  the  death  of  his  mother, 
Queen  Blanche,  in  whose  hands  he  had  left  the  regency ; 
and  after  an  absence  of  six  years,  he  returned  home. 

PART   IV.       MANFRED    OF    SICILY.       1250-1266. 

KoNRAD,  son  of  Frederick  H.  and  of  Yolande  of  Jerusalem, 
was  the  undoubted  heir  of  his  father's  crowns,  but  the 
Pope  caused  William,  Count  of  Holland,  to  be  elected 
emperor,  and  after  a  short  struggle  with  him,  young  Kon- 
rad  died,  after  so  brief  an  illness,  that  it  was  thought  that 
he  had  been  poisoned.  He  left  one  infant  son,  named 
Konrad,  called  by  the  Italians  Corradino,  of  which  the 
English  have  made  Conradine.  This  poor  child,  unable  to 
assert  the  rights  to  which  his  birth  entitled  him,  was 
carried  by  his  mother  to  the  court  of  her  father,  the  Duke 
of  Bavaria ;  while  both  she  and  his  uncle  Manfred,  the 
youngest  son  of  Frederick  H.,  implored  Innocent  IV.  to 
grant  him  his  protection,  as  tlie  Holy  See  was  the  natural 
guardian  of  orphans,  and  Konrad  had  left  especial  orders 
that  his  family  should  be  reconciled  to  the  Church  at  any 
cost. 

That  Conradine  was  of  the  blood  of  Hohenstaufen  was 
Bufficient  offence  with  Innocent  IV.,  who  was  already  giving 
away  his  hereditary  kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies ;  offering 
it  to  Henry  HI.  for  his  second  son,  Edmund  Crouchback, 
and  filling  it  with  his  troops.  Manfred,  the  son  of  a  Si- 
cilian lady,  born  at  Naples,  and  much  beloved  there,  had 
been  appointed  viceroy  of  that  kingdom,  both  by  his 
father,  Frederick,  and  brother,  Konrad,  and  he  hastened 
thither  to  save  it.  After  narrowly  escaping  being  made 
prisoner  by  the  Guelfs,  he  arrived  with  a  very  few  attend- 
ants, in  the  early  morning,  at  the  Saracen  town  of  Lucera. 
His  friends  forced  open  the  gates,  and  as  soon  as  he  entered, 
all  the  inhabitants  came  forth  with  acclamations  to  do  him 


100  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  VII. 

honor  as  the  son  of  their  emperor.  They  drove  out  the 
Pope's  garrison,  and  were  soon  assisted  by  all  the  Ghibel- 
lines  in  the  kingdom  ;  Manfred  found  himself  very  power- 
ful, and,  on  a  report  of  the  death  of  young  Conradine,  he 
caused  himself  to  be  crowned.  Conradine,  however,  was 
alive,  and  his  mother  sent  ambassadors  to  remind  Manfred 
of  his  rights,  to  which  he  replied  by  a  promise  that  Con- 
radine should  succeed  him  on  the  throne,  and  by  offering 
to  educate  him  as  his  heir,  and  teach  him  the  virtues  of  his 
forefathers. 

In  1256  Innocent  IV.  died,  but  his  successors  followed 
the  same  policy,  with  the  same  hatred  to  the  House  of 
Swabia.  The  Guelf  King  of  the  Romans,  William  of 
Holland,  was  the  same  year  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse, 
and  the  electors,  who  never  honestly  proceeded  to  a  choice 
when  one  of  the  right  line  of  their  emperors  was  to  be 
passed  over,  actually  sold  their  votes  to  the  highest  bidder, 
and  elected  the  English  prince,  Richard  Plantagenet,  Earl 
of  Cornwall,  who,  however,  gained  nothing  but  the  empty 
title,  and  though  he  spent  every  year  immense  sums  of 
money,  was  never  obeyed  for  one  hour  in  any  city  of 
Germany.  The  princes  oppressed  their  vassals ;  the  towns 
did  their  best  to  govern  themselves ;  and  for  twenty  years 
Germany  was  in  a  dreadful  state  of  confusion. 

Finding  his  own  forces  unable  to  subdue  Manfred  of 
Sicily,  and  that  Henry  III.,  so  far  from  being  able  to  con- 
quer ncAv  realms  for  his  son,  was  in  danger  from  his  rebel- 
lious barons  at  home,  the  popes  had  recourse  to  France, 
and  offered  to  bestow  the  crown  of  the  Two  Sicilies  ou 
Robert,  the  second  son  of  St.  Louis.  That  excellent  king 
would  not  accept  so  unjust  a  gift,  and  the  offer  was,  there- 
fore, passed  on  to  his  brother  Charles,  Count  of  Anjou,  by 
whom  it  was  eagerly  accepted.  Charles  differed  in  every 
respect  from  his  brother ;  he  was  cruel  and  ambitious,  and 
his  wife's  pride  impelled  him  to  exalt  himself  at  any  cost, 
so  jealous  was  she  of  seeing  her  three  sisters  queens,  while 
she  herself  was  only  a  countess.  Her  great  inheritance, 
the  county  of  Provence,  furnished  him  with  the  troops  and 
money,  which  Louis  would  perhaps  have  refused  him. 

He  invaded  the  kingdom  of  Naples  at  the  head  of  a 


COXRADINE    OF   SWABIA.  101 

large  force,  to  whom  Pope  Urban  IV.  wickedly  gave  the 
title  and  privileges  of  Crusaders.  The  Apiilian  barons,  in 
dread  of  excommunication,  deserted  their  king,  and  Man- 
fred was  left  with  a  comparatively  small  army,  all  of  whom, 
however,  were  devotedly  attached  to  him.  The  two  armies 
met  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Galore,  near  Benevente,  and 
Manfred  was  desponding.  As  he  was  putting  on  his  helmet, 
his  crest,  a  silver  eagle,  fell  off.  "  It  is  a  sign  from  God," 
said  he  in  Latin  to  his  friends ;  "  it  is  by  no  chance  that 
my  crest  falls."  He  rode  into  battle  undistinguished  from 
any  of  his  knights,  and  fought  gallantly ;  there  was  a 
great  slaughter  on  each  side,  and  towards  the  evening  the 
Ghibellines  fled.  A  corpse  was  soon  after  brought  into  the 
Provenyal  camp,  thrown  across  an  ass,  and  Charles  called 
all  the  prisoners,  to  ask  if  they  could  recognize  it.  Count 
Giordano  Lancia,  Manfred's  chief  friend,  on  seeing  the 
features,  covered  his  face  with  his  hands,  and  bursting  into 
tears,  exclaimed,  "  O,  my  master,  my  master,  what  has  be- 
come of  us  ?"  The  French  knights  begged  Charles  to 
grant  his  brave  foe  Christian  burial,  but  this  was  refused 
on  account  of  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  and  Man- 
fred was  buried  at  the  foot  of  the  bridge  of  Benevente. 

PART  V.       CONRADIXE    OF   SWABIA.       1266-1285. 

This  battle  took  place  in  the  year  1266,  and  Charles  of 
Anjou  being  crowned  King  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  commenced 
the  new  dynasty  called  the  Angevin.  He  was  a  cruel  and 
avaricious  tyrant,  and  the  Apulians  soon  had  reason  to  re- 
pent their  having  forsaken  Manfred.  They  cast  their  eyes 
on  Conradine,  the  sole  remaining  branch  of  the  Swabian 
line,  now  a  brave  high-spirited  youth  of  twenty,  of  beauti- 
ful person,  and  considerable  talent,  especially  for  poetry. 
He  willingly  accepted  their  invitation,  and  set  out  for  Italy, 
with  an  army  of  Swabians,  a  number  of  young  German 
knights,  and  especially  his  beloved  friend  and  brother  in 
arms,  Frederick,  Duke  of  Austria. 

They  traversed  Italy  prosperously,  and  passing  Yiterbo, 
where  Pope  Clement  IV.  had  shut  himself  up,  were  re- 
ceived with  great  state  at  Rome.     Entering  the  Abruzzi, 


102  LANDMAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  VII. 

they  found  all  the  Saracens  and  Ghibellines  ready  to  join 
them:  but  their  prosperity  was  short;  at  Tagliacozzo, 
Charles  fell  upon  them,  and  attacking  them  with  a  strata- 
gem such  as  a  chivalrous  prince  would  have  despised,  he 
totally  dispersed  their  army.  Conradine  fled,  had  reached 
the  coast,  and  was  embarking  for  Sicily,  when  he  was  be- 
trayed into  the  hands  of  the  Proven9als,  and  made 
prisoner.  He  was  thrown  into  prison  at  Naples,  with  his 
friend  Frederick  of  Austria,  and  Charles  wrote  to  the  Pope 
to  ask  his  counsel.  Clement  replied,  "  It  is  not  the  part  of 
a  Pope  to  advise  the  death  of  any  one ;"  and  Charles,  well 
understanding  the  answer,  assembled  a  tribunal  to  try 
these  two  young  princes,  both  Germans,  and  no  subjects  of 
his,  together  with  some  of  the  noblest  young  Ghibellines 
of  Northern  Italy. 

One  of  the  judges,  Guido  di  Suzara,  rose,  saying  boldly, 
"  Conradine  came  not  as  a  robber  or  plunderer,  but  in  con- 
fidence in  his  own  good  right.  He  was  in  no  fault  for 
seeking  to  recover  the  kingdom  of  his  forefathers  by  open 
war.  He  was  not  taken  in  battle  but  in  the  flight,  and  to  use 
prisoners  dishonorably  is  forbidden  by  all  justice."  All 
the  other  judges  agreed  with  Suzara,  except  one,  a  Proven- 
9al,  who  was  resolved  to  minister  to  the  wicked  will  of  his 
master,  and  on  his  authority,  Robert  of  Bari,  the  protho- 
notary,  pronounced  sentence  of  death  against  Conradine 
and  his  friends.  The  tidings  were  carried  to  the  two 
friends  as  they  were  playing  at  chess ;  they  listened  with 
calmness,  and  prepared  for  their  death,  which  was  to  take 
place  the  next  day. 

It  was  on  the  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Naples  that  the  scaf- 
fold was  prepared,  and  the  throne  of  Charles  of  Anjou  was 
raised  in  full  view  of  it.  The  condemned  were  led  forth, 
and  the  wicked  judge  began  to  read  the  sentence  of  death, 
when  Count  Robert  of  Flanders,  the  king's  own  son-in-law, 
sprang  up,  and  exclaiming,  "  How  darest  thou,  rash  fellow, 
condemn  so  great  and  noble  a  knight  ?  "  struck  him  such  a 
blow  with  the  handle  of  his  sword  that  he  was  carried  away 
for  dead,  while,  to  the  rage  of  Charles,  the  French  knights 
applauded  the  deed. 

There  was  no  rescue,  however,  for  the  victims.     Con- 


CONRADINE    OF    SWABIA.  103 

radine  mounted  the  scaffold  first,  and  untying  his  cloak,  spoke 
aloud :  "  As  a  sinner  in  the  sight  of  God  have  I  deserved 
death,  but  here  have  I  done  no  wrong.  I  ask  all  the  faith- 
ful men,  whom  my  ancestors  governed  as  fathers — I  ask  all 
the  nobles  present,  if  it  is  a  crime  worthy  of  death,  to 
maintain  my  own  and  my  people's  rights  ?  And  even  were 
I  guilty,  how  dare  they  thus  cruelly  punish  the  innocent, 
who  have  held  to  me  in  noble  faithfulness  ?"  So  saying, 
Conradine  drew  off  his  glove  and  threw  it  among  the  peo- 
ple ;  he  knelt  down  to  pray,  and  as  he  rose  embraced  his 
fellow-sufferer,  then  stretching  out  his  hands  to  heaven, 
cried  out,  "  O  my  Saviour,  King  of  glory,  if  this  cup  may 
not  pass  away,  I  commend  m^  spirit  into  Thy  hands."  He 
knelt  down  once  more,  and  with  these  last  words,  "  Mother, 
mother,  what  grief  do  I  cause  thee !"  he  yielded  his  head 
to  the  executioner.  His  friend,  Frederick  of  Austria,  gave 
a  loud  and  bitter  cry  as  Conradine's  head  fell,  and  then 
kneeling  down  himself,  shared  the  same  death. 

Tradition  relates  that  an  eagle  at  that  moment  flew  down, 
and  sweeping  across  the  scaffold  bathed  its  wing  in  the 
blood  of  the  murdered  prince,  the  last  of  the  line  of  Swabia, 
and  mounted  up  to  the  sky.  Conradine's  glove,  the  pledge 
of  his  appeal  against  the  injustice  of  his  death,  was  picked 
up  bv  a  Swabian  knight,  who  carried  it  to  Pedro  of  Aragon, 
the  husband  of  Manfred's  only  daughter,  Costanza,  and 
therefore  his  nearest  relation. 


(    LIBRARY     I 

UNIVERSITY  OF  I 

CALIFORNIA.  J 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  CRUSADING  POWER 
IN  THE  EAST.    1261-1291. 

PART  I.       THE  GKEEKS  KECOVEE  CONSTANTINOPLE.       1261. 

Early  in  the  thirteenth  century  there  had  been  another 
such  Tartar  invasion  as  that  of  Attila  the  Hun,  such  as 
there  seemed  to  be  whenever  a  man  of  superior  power  and 
ability  arose  among  the  wandering  tribes  of  Northern  Asia. 
This  chieftain  was  Zenghis  Khan,  a  name  meaning  the  con- 
quering lord,  a  Mongol  Tartar,  who  uniting  all  the  Tartars 
of  the  north,  overran  Persia  and  India,  crossed  the  Volga, 
and  ravaged  Russia,  the  Greek  empire,  and  Hungary,  until 
at  last  he  was  checked  and  turned  back  by  the  chivalry  of 
Germany,  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  under  the  Emperor 
Frederick  II. 

He  afterward  attempted  an  invasion  of  China,  but  died 
on  his  road  thither,  in  the  year  1225,  and  thus  the  danger 
to  Europe  was  at  an  end ;  but  seeds  of  further  mischief 
were  left  in  the  numerous  small  colonies  of  Tartars,  left 
scattered  in  Southern  Russia  and  Asia  Minor,  on  the  bor- 
ders of  the  Greek  empire. 

The  Latin  empire  at  Constantinople,  always  weak,  had 
been  further  shattered  by  this  storm  passing  over  it,  and 
the  Emperor  Baldwin  de  Courtenai  was  so  feeble  in  mind, 
and  indolent  in  body,  as  to  be  incapable  of  doing  anything 
to  restore  it.  The  Greek  family  of  the  Lascaris  at  Nicea 
had  also  lost  much  of  their  vigor,  but  in  the  year  1260,  a 
clever  and  ambitious  soldier,  named  Michael  Palaeologos, 
succeeded  in  setting  aside  the  infant  emperor,  John  Las- 
caris, and  himself  obtaining  the  purple.  No  object  was  so 
near  Michael's  heart,  as  the  recovery  of  Constantinople. 
Even  when  an  infant,  he  had  been  sung  to  sleep  by  his 
sister  Eulogia,  with  promises  that  he  should  one  day  enter 
by  the  Golden  Gate ;  and  as  soon  as  he  actually  became 


THE    GEEEKS    KECOYER    CONSTANTIXOPLE.  105 

emperor,  he  turned  all  his  attention  to  the  enterprise.  The 
establishment  of  the  Latins  had  been  in  great  part  the 
work  of  the  Venetians,  many  of  whom  lived  at  Constanti- 
nople for  purposes  of  trade,  and  Michael  took  advantage  of 
the  jealousy  with  which  they  were  regarded  by  the  other 
great  mercliants  of  Italy,  the  Genoese,  who  were  settled  in 
considerable  numbers  at  Fera.  He  obtained  of  the  Geno- 
ese thirty  vessels  to  carry  his  troops  across  the  Bosphorus, 
and  their  assistance  in  the  attack.  The  combat  was  very 
short,  for  all  the  Greek  inhabitants  rose  in  favor  of  Pala^ol- 
ogos,  glad  to  shake  off  a  foreign  rule,  and  the  commander 
of  Baldwin's  forces  was  obliged  to  set  fire  to  the  town,  and 
effect  his  escape  as  well  as  he  could,  under  cover  of  the 
flames.  Crowds  of  Franks,  men,  women,  and  children, 
rushed  down  to  the  shore,  leaving  all  their  property  be- 
hind them,  and  threw  themselves  into  the  Venetian  ships, 
while  the  Greeks  entered  in  triumph.  Thus,  in  1261,  ended 
the  Latin  power  in  the  East,  after  having  lasted  fifty-seven 
years. 

Baldwin  was  kept  prisoner  for  some  time,  but  at  last  was 
allowed  to  make  his  escape,  and  wandered  about  Europe, 
showing  off  his  poverty  at  the  different  courts,  and  trying 
to  persuade  the  princes  to  undertake  a  new  crusade  on  his 
behalf  The  Pope  attempted  to  make  the  King  of  France 
espouse  his  cause,  but  St.  Louis  did  not  think  this  a  proper 
object  for  a  crusade;  and  Baldwin  lost  even  the  Pope's 
support,  when  Palaeologos  desired  to  be  reconciled  to 
Rome.  This  desire,  however,  arose  from  a  disgraceful  rea- 
son ;  Michael  had  blinded  and  banished  the  poor  young 
Lascaris,  and  the  Greek  Patriarch  had  justly  excommu- 
nicated him,  upon  which  he  desired  to  be  received  by 
Rome. 

The  fearless  uncompromising  Patriarch  Arsenios  was  de- 
posed, and  in  1274  an  outward  union  of  the  two  Churches 
was  effected ;  but  the  clergy  of  the  Eastern  Church  would 
not  accept  the  customs  which  Rome  wished  to  impose  on 
them.  Nor  would  the  people  give  up  their  own  ancient 
Greek  Liturgy,  cease  to  receive  the  Holy  Communion 
in  both  kinds,  nor  acknowledge  the  Pope's  claim  to  be  the 
universal  bishop ;  and  thus,  at  the  end  of  Michael's  reign, 


106  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  VTII. 

the  hollow  union  ceased,  as  indeed  it  could  never  subsist, 
while  Greece  continued  Catholic,  and  Rome  to  press  her 
uncatholic  claims. 

PART   II.       THE    LAST    CRUSADE.       1270-1272. 

The  Holy  Land  had  been  left  without  a  king  since  the 
death  of  Frederick  II.  Conradine  had  indeed  borne  the 
title  of  King  of  Jerusalem,  and  it  was  taken  on  his  death 
both  by  his  enemy,  Charles  of  Anjou,  and  Henry  de  Lusig- 
nan,  King  of  Cyprus ;  but  this  was  of  little  benefit  to  the 
Christians,  who  were  entirely  without  government.  A 
fierce  jealousy  arose  between  the  orders  of  the  Temple  and 
St.  John,  the  knights  fought  frequently  against  each  other ; 
and  in  the  mean  time  the  Mamelukes  of  Egypt  entered 
Palestine,  and  took  Joppa,  Antioch,  and  several  smaller 
places,  until  nothing  was  left  to  the  Christians,  save  the 
single  town  of  Acre. 

The  period  of  the  Crusades  was  over ;  men  thought  but 
little  of  the  Holy  City,  compared  with  their  own  ambitious 
plans,  and  the  darkness  was  allowed  fast  to  close  over  the 
sacred  spots  which  Christians  had  shown  themselves  un- 
worthy to  guard.  One  more  attempt  was  however  still  to 
be  made ;  and  after  all  the  crimes,  the  selfishness,  and  the 
meanness,  over  which  we  have  so  often  had  to  mourn  in  the 
champions  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  it  is  a  comfort  that  be- 
neath the  Crosses  of  the  last  Crusade  were  hearts  as  pure 
and  true  as  those  of  the  first  King  of  Jerusalem,  and  of 
Tancred,  the  first  of  its  warriors. 

St.  Louis  had  never  lost  the  hope  of  returning  to  the 
Holy  Land,  and  all  the  latter  years  of  his  reign  were  spent 
in  so  regulating  his  kingdom  that  he  might  leave  it  in 
safety.  He  took  the  Cross  for  the  second  time  in  1269,  and 
with  him  were  his  brotlier  Alfonse,  his  sons  Philippe,  Robert, 
and  Tristan,  and  his  nephews,  Edward  heir  of  England, 
Edmund  Crouchback,  and  Henry,  son  of  the  King  of  the 
Romans.  Edward  was  the  bravest,  ablest,  and  handsomest 
knight  in  Euro])e ;  his  courage  and  filial  piety  had  lately 
rescued  his  father  from  Simon  de  Montfort  and  the  rebel 
barons,  and  now,  after  settling  the  government  of  England 


THE    LAST   CRUSADE.  107 

on  a  more  just  and  firm  footing  than  it  had  ever  been  since 
the  time  of  his  namesake  and  patron  saint,  the  Confessor, 
he  took  the  Cross,  accompanied  by  his  noble-spirited  wife, 
Eleanor,  the  daughter  of  Saint  Fernando  of  Castile. 

Louis  sailed  first,  early  in  the  year  1270,  but  unfortunately 
his  skill  as  a  commander  was  not  equal  to  his  virtues.  He 
appointed  to  sail  to  Tunis,  and  there  landing,  to  wait  for 
the  other  Crusaders,  his  brother  the  King  of  Sicily,  and  the 
three  English  princes.  It  is  thought  that  he  had  some 
vague  hope  of  an  alliance  with  the  l3ey  of  Tunis,  and  per- 
haps of  converting  him,  otherwise  it  is  difiicult  to  account 
for  this  most  fatal  resolution.  He  entered  the  Bay  of 
Tunis,  and  landed  near  the  ruins  of  Carthage,  but  the 
Moors  attacked  him  on  all  sides,  hiding  themselves  among 
the  old  broken  walls  and  towers,  rushing  out  and  cutting 
off  the  French. 

They  were  soon  dislodged  from  the  ruins,  and  there  Louis 
encamped,  to  await  the  arrival  of  his  companions,  but  be- 
fore many  days  the  heat  of  the  climate  and  unhealthiness 
of  the  situation  occasioned  a  deadly  sickness  to  break  out 
in  the  army.  The  king  and  all  the  princes  were  taken  ill. 
Young  Tristan,  who  had  been  born  in  the  midst  of  the  dis- 
asters of  the  last  Crusade,  was  the  first  to  expire,  his  uncle 
Alfonse  soon  followed  him,  and  Louis  lingered  but  a  short 
time  longer.  He  drew  up  some  beautiful  counsels  for  his 
eldest  son,  and  spent  the  rest  of  his  time  in  prayer.  In  his 
last  moments  he  desired  to  be  laid  on  a  bed  of  ashes,  and 
there  with  his  hands  crossed  on  his  breast,  and  his  lips 
murmuring  "  O  Jerusalem !  Jerusalem !"  he  breathed  his 
last,  on  the  25th  of  August,  1270. 

At  that  very  moment.  King  Charles  of  Sicily  was  sailing 
into  the  bay,  accompanied  by  Edward  of  England.  They 
came  in  time  to  save  the  life  of  the  young  King,  Philippe 
III.,  by  carrying  him  from  this  fatal  spot,  with  the  rest  of 
the  army  ;  and  sailing  for  Messina,  they  held  council  there 
on  their  future  measures.  Charles  of  Sicily  had  no  desire 
to  dare  further  perils,  which  could  bring  no  advantage  to 
himself,  and  Philippe  of  France  was  broken  down  with 
grief  and  discouragement,  but  Edward  of  England  was 
firm  as  ever,  though  he  had  only  his  own  little  band  of 


108  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

English  followers.  "  I  would  go,"  said  he,  "  if  I  had  only 
my  groom  with  me." 

He  remained,  however,  in  Sicily  for  the  winter ;  and  dur- 
ing his  stay  there  his  cousin  Henry,  son  of  the  King  of  the 
Komans,  was  assassinated  in  a  church  at  Yiterbo,  by  Guy 
and  Simon  de  Montfort,  in  revenge  for  the  death  of  their 
father  at  the  battle  of  Evesham.  In  spring  Edward  pro- 
ceeded to  Acre,  repulsed  the  Mamelukes  from  the  walls  of 
the  town,  and  recovered  Nazareth,  but  on  his  return  to 
Acre,  both  he  and  his  army  began  to  suffer  from  the  effects 
of  the  climate.  The  fate  pursued  him.  which  seemed  to 
hang  over  all  the  chiefs  of  this  crusade,  and  he  scarcely 
escaped  death  from  the  hand  of  an  Assassin  from  Joppa. 
His  wife's  act  of  self-devotion  saved  him  from  the  effects  of 
the  poison,  and  as  soon  as  he  was  sufficiently  recovered,  he 
quitted  the  Holy  Land,  to  take  possession  of  his  father's 
throne.  The  hope  of  returning  thither  never  left  him, 
though  it  was  stifled  and  turned  aside  by  the  ambition 
which  afterward  caused  him  to  stain  the  character  once  so 
noble.  On  his  death-bed  he  spoke  of  Jerusalem,  and  or- 
dered a  body  of  troops  to  be  sent  to  the  Holy  Land ;  and 
he  sleeps  beneath  a  huge  plain^block  of  porphyry,  brought, 
it  is  believed,  from  the  overthrown  stones  of  the  Temple — 
a  fit  monument  for  the  last  of  the  Crusaders. 

PART   III.       THE    SICILIAN   VESPERS.       1272-1285. 

The  years  1271  and  1272,  were  years  of  new  sovereigns, 
and  for  the  most  part  of  excellent  ones.  Henry  HL  gave 
place  to  his  noble  son  Edward  I.  Philippe  le  Hardi, 
though  inferior  to  his  father,  was  an  upright  and  excellent 
man ;  and  a  Pope  and  Emperor  were  both  elected  who  were 
patterns  in  their  several  stations.  The  cardinals,  after 
disputing  for  twenty-three  months,  at  length  fixed  upon  a 
priest  of  the  noble  House  of  Visconti,  of  Milan,  who  was 
at  the  time  in  Palestine  with  Edward  of  England.  Re- 
turning, he  took  the  name  of  Gregory  X.,  and  mounted  the 
pontifical  throne,  saying,  "If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem, 
let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning."  He  set  himself, 
with  all  his  might,  to  repress  the  dissensions  of  the  neigh- 


THE    SICILIAN   VESPERS.  109 

boring  States,  and  to  turn  men's  minds  to  better  things ; 
he  hoped  to  unite  the  princes  of  Europe  in  a  more  glorious 
crusade  than  any  which  had  yet  taken  phice,  but  death  put 
an  end  to  these  attempts,  at  the  end  of  four  years,  which 
had  been  spent  in  his  true  duty  of  peace-making. 

The  nominal  King  of  the  Romans,  Richard  Flantagenet, 
died  in  12V 2,  and  the  Germans,  tired  of  their  long  anarchy, 
resolved  that  their  election  should  be  in  earnest.  They 
wished  for  a  brave  and  able  prince,  who  should  have  suffi- 
cient power  to  defend  them,  yet  whose  hereditary  possessions 
should  not  render  him  independent,  as  had  been  the  case 
with  the  Saxon  and  Swabian  emperors.  Their  choice  fell 
on  Rudolf,  Count  of  Ilapsburg,  a  free  noble  of  an  ancient 
line,  of  no  great  power,  and  one  of  the  best,  bravest,  ablest, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  most  pious  and  humble  men  in 
Gennany.  His  kindness  and  charity  were  as  remarkable  as 
his  courage,  and  he  is  noted  as  one  of  those  whose  piety 
seems  to  have  entailed  prosperity  on  his  children  after  him. 
The  sceptre  had  been  lost  during  the  previous  troubles,  and 
Rudolf  took  up  the  crucifix  in  its  stead,  saying  that  the 
emblem  of  our  redemption  might  well  take  the  place  of  the 
emblem  of  dominion. 

Rudolf  conquered  Ottocar,  the  Sclavonic  King  of  Bohe- 
mia, who  had  lately  made  great  inroads  upon  Germany, 
and  took  from  him  the  dukedoms  of  Austria  and  Styria, 
which  he  had  unjustly  seized.  The  ancient  line  of  Dukes 
of  Austria  had  become  extinct  in  Frederick,  the  friend  and 
fellow-suiferer  of  Conradine,  and  Rudolf  invested  his  own 
son  Albrecht  with  the  dukedom,  which  has  ever  since  be- 
longed to  the  House  o-f  Hapsburg. 

Rudolf  and  Gregory  X.  were  not  men  to  keep  up  the  old 
feuds  of  Pope  and  Emperor ;  they  desired  that  the  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  power  should  go  hand  in  hand,  instead 
of  being  continually  in  opposition.  They  met  at  Lausanne, 
and  reconciled  all  the  ancient  quarrels,  and  at  that  moment 
the  state  of  Christian  Europe  was  more  like  what  it  ought 
to  have  been  than  at  any  other  period  of  modern  history. 

Blots  there  were,  of  course,  and  the  deepest  and  darkest 
of  them  was  Charles  of  Anjou,  King  of  Sicily,  with  his 
cruel  oppression  of  the  kingdom  which  he  had  gained  by 


110  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTOKY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

injustice,  and  secured,  as  he  thought,  by  a  murder.  He  had 
extermmated  the  Saracen  followers  of  the  House  of  Hohen- 
staufen,  and  had  filled  every  situation  of  trust  in  Naples 
and  Sicily  with  his  own  Proven9als,  insolent  and  rapacious 
men,  who  each  maintained  a  number  of  men-at-arms  from 
France,  and  permitted  and  encouraged  them  to  ill-use  the 
country-people.  A  fearful  day  of  retribution  was  however 
at  hand. 

On  Easter  Monday,  the  30th  of  March,  1282,  the  people 
of  Palermo,  according  to  their  usual  custom  on  a  holiday, 
were  walking  to  hear  vespers  at  the  Church  of  Monreale, 
about  three  miles  from  the  town,  when  a  French  soldier, 
among  the  crowd,  offered  an  insult  to  a  young  maiden,  who 
was  walking  with  her  betrothed  and  her  brothers.  These 
young  men,  in  violent  anger,  wrenched  the  Frenchman's 
sword  from  him  and  slew  him ;  the  surrounding  Sicilians, 
whose  minds  had  long  been  brooding  over  the  memory  of 
many  such  wrongs,  daily  inflicted,  took  their  part,  and  fell 
upon  the  other  French  who  were  dispersed  among  them, 
putting  them  all  to  death.  Their  fury  increasing  with 
their  success,  they  returned  to  the  town  of  Palermo,  and 
continued  the  work  of  slaughter,  killing  every  one  of  French 
or  Proven9al  birth — men,  women,  and  children— without 
pity.  The  other  inhabitants' of  Sicily  followed  their  exam- 
ple, and  every  one  of  the  hated  French  throughout  the 
island  was  murdered,  excepting  the  family  of  one  Proven- 
9al  knight,  Guillaume  de  Porceles,  who  had  been  so  kind  to 
the  people  of  his  fief,  that  they  defended  him  from  the 
other  Sicilians,  and  sent  him  in  safety  to  Italy. 

This  frightful  massacre  is  called  the  Sicilian  Vespers, 
from  its  having  commenced  at  the  moment  when  the  vesper 
bell  was  ringing.  The  Sicilians  now  took  up  arms  to  pro- 
tect themselves  from  Charles,  and  sent  messengers  to  offer 
their  crown  to  Pedro  IH.  of  Aragon,  the  husband  of  Man- 
fred's daughter  Costanza,  and  the  heir  of  the  rights  of 
Conradine.  Pedro  was  the  son  of  the  great  and  excellent 
King  Jayme  el  Conquestador,  and  had  inherited  many  of 
his  talents  and  virtues.  He  had  a  powerful  fleet.  Barce- 
lona was  a  great  seaport.  The  Catalonians  were  esteemed 
the  best  of  sailors,  next  to  the  Venetians  and  Genoese,  and 


-  THE    SICILIAN   VESPERS.  Ill 

Roger  de  Lauria,  his  admiral,  was  the  most  skilful  naval 
commander  then  in  Europe. 

He  therefore  f6lt  himself  well  able  to  undertake  the  cause 
of  the  Sicilians,  and  declared  war  against  Charles  of  Anjou. 
Roger  de  Lauria  was  sent  to  sail  round  the  island,  and  carry- 
succors  thither.  He  did  so ;  took  the  little  isles  of  Malta 
and  Gozo,  and  appeared  in  front  of  the  Bay  of  Naples. 
Charles,  Prince  of  Salerno,  eldest  son  of  Charles  of  Anjou, 
sailed  out  to  meet  him,  but  was  totally  routed,  and  made 
prisoner.  Sicily  being  thus  secured,  Pedro  took  his  wife 
thither,  and  left  her  to  govern  it  with  her  son  Jayme,  while 
he  returned  to  Aragon,  to  protect  his  own  dominions  from 
the  French,  who  took  the  part  of  the  Angevin  prince. 

The  reigning  Pope,  Martin,  excommunicated  Pedro,  and 
gave  his  kingdom  away  to  Charles,  Count  de  Valois,  son 
of  Philippe  le  Hardi ;  but  Pedro  was  too  secure  in  posses- 
sion to  regard  this  forfeiture,  and  in  derision,  signed  him- 
self Caballero,  or  Knight  of  Aragon,  instead  of  king. 
Philippe  III.  invaded  his  dominions  in  1284;  he  marched 
to  repel  the  invasion,  and  gained,  in  October,  a  complete 
victory  near  Gerona.  Philippe  returned  through  the 
county  of  Roussillon,  and  on  his  way  was  taken  ill,  and 
died  at  Perpignan.  Pedro  only  survived  till  the  end  of 
the  year,  having,  it  appears,  caught  the  same  disease  at 
Gerona.  He  was  absolved  on  his  death-bed  by  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Tarragona.  His  eldest  son,  Alfonso,  became  King 
of  Aragon,  and  Jayme,  of  Sicily. 

In  1285  King  Charles  I.  of  Naples  died.  He  was  a  pow- 
erful and  a  successful  prince  on  the  whole,  and  though  he 
had  lost  the  island  of  Sicily,  his  dominions  were  still  very 
extensive,  since  he  not  only  possessed  Provence,  and  the 
kingdom  of  Naples,  but  the  principality  of  Achaia  in 
Greece,  and  several  of  the  Greek  islands.  His  character 
was  a  strange  one,  ambitious,  crafty,  and  violent,  yet  with 
a  certain  sort  of  devotion  ;  his  faults  fostered,  perhaps,  by 
the  manner  in  which  the  Popes  degraded  their  sacred  call- 
ing for  the  sake  of  furthering  their  private  ends.  He  seems 
to  have  looked  upon  himself  all  along  as  the  champion  of 
Heaven,  since  he  was  the  champion  of  the  Popes,  and  to 
have  thought  all  his  sins,  for  that  reason,  excused.     Per- 


112  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

haps  in  him,  and  his  brother  St.  Louis,  we  see  the  types  of 
the  persons  who  have  their  reward  in  this  world,  and  of 
those  who  seek  it  above. 

PART   IV.       THE    FREE    CITIES    OF    ITALY.       1270-1300. 

Rudolf  of  Hapsburg,  having  so  little  power  of  his  own, 
independently  of  his  being  emperor,  did  not  attempt  to 
exert  his  authority  over  Italy,  as  his  predecessors  had  done. 
He  formally  ceded  to  the  See  of  Rome  the  territory  of  Ro- 
magna,  and  the  inheritance  of  the  Countess  Matilda.  The 
Popes  had  never  ceased  to  assert  their  right  to  these  do- 
minions every  time  they  crowned  an  emperor,  but  the 
assertion  had  hitherto  passed  as  a  mere  form,  and  had  never 
been  acted  upon  until  the  present  time.  Still,  the  power 
which  they  had  acquired  was  only  the  vague  claim  of  sov- 
ereignty hitherto  possessed  by  the  emperor ;  in  effect,  the 
cities  of  these  countries  entirely  governed  themselves. 

The  towns  of  Lombardy  and  Tuscany  became  entirely 
free,  and  were  left  to  enjoy  the  rights  for  which  they  had 
so  long  struggled.  Northern  Italy  was  divided  into  a 
number  of  little  republics,  not  unlike  those  of  ancient 
Greece,  though  scarcely  so  steady  and  regular  in  their 
government.  Some  of  these  cities  were  extremely  rich, 
full  of  merchant  princes,  who  then  conducted  the  whole 
trade  of  Europe  with  the  east  and  north.  The  Genoese 
and  Venetians  had  establishments  for  trading  with  the 
Tartars  on  the  coast  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  with  the  Arabs 
on  the  coast  of  Syria,  and  their  counting-houses  were 
found  in  all  parts  of  Europe.  The  Venetians  and  Milanese 
were  the  first  money-changers  and  lenders,  excepting  the 
Jews.  Their  establishments  for  the  purpose  were  called 
banks,  from  their  woj'd  hanco^  the  bench  where  the  busi- 
ness was  transacted ;  and  both  in  London  and  Paris,  the 
street  where  such  affairs  took  place  was  called  Lombard 
Street  from  their  name.  Florence  was  also  exceedingly 
rich,  and  its  coinage  of  florins  was  used  all  over  Europe, 
instead  of  the  bezants  of  Byzantium,  or  Constantinople, 
which  had  hitherto  prevailed. 

Neither    riches    nor    their   much-desired    liberty   could 


THE    FREE    CITIES    OP   ITALY.  113 

secure  peace  to  these  cities.  Venice  was  the  best  regu- 
lated, with  its  king-like  Doge  and  powerful  nobility,  but 
its  government  was  stern  and  harsh,  and  there  were  two 
councils,  of  ten  and  of  forty  nobles,  who  were  set  to  repress 
the  power  of  the  Doge,  just  as  the  Ephors  of  Sparta  had 
restrained  the  kings.  Anything  like  resistance  to  the  gov- 
ernment was  punished  secretly  and  fearfully ;  the  offender 
was  thrown  into  the  prisons  called  the  Piombi,  or  leads,  at 
the  top  of  the  palaces,  and  after  being  tried  before  the 
dreaded  tribunal  of  the  Forty,  was  led  away  across  the 
Bridge  of  Sighs,  and  privately  put  to  death.  One  Doge, 
named  Marino  Falieri,  was  condemned  for  conspiring 
against  the  republic,  and  executed  on  the  marble  stairs, 
where  he  had  plighted  his  faith  to  the  State  of  St.  Mark. 

These  jealous  precautions  preserved  Venice  in  her  great- 
ness for  six  hundred  years,  but  it  was  far  otherwise  with 
the  other  free  cities  of  Italy.  Though  the  real  war  of 
Guelf  and  Ghibelline  was  in  fact  concluded  when  Conra- 
dine's  blood  streamed  on  the  scaffold,  yet  the  old  party 
names  and  party  hatreds  still  prevailed  as  fiercely  as  ever 
in  Northern  Italy.  All  the  nobles,  as  a  general  rule,  were 
Ghibellines,  most  of  the  citizens  Guelfs,  and  as  the  mer- 
chants had  now  become  extremely  rich  and  powerful,  it 
was  a  positive  disadvantage  to  be  born  of  a  noble  family, 
for  no  one  in  their  own  republic  would  trust  the  nobles,  or 
allow  them  any  political  power,  nor  in  fact  did  they  often 
deserve  any,  for  they  were  a  haughty,  vii)lent,  self-indulgent 
Kace.  Great  numbers  of  them  were  often  sent  to  live  in 
banishment,  when  they  either  hired  themselves  out  as 
soldiers  or  as  judges  to  other  States.  For  the  citizens, 
though  they  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  their  own 
noblemen,  could  not  either  govern  themselves,  or  fight  for 
themselves,  and  generally  imported  either  a  Podesta  or 
a  captain-general  from  some  other  State,  to  whom  they 
,  committed  their  government  and  defence. 

According  as  the  Guelfs  or  Ghibellines  happened  to  be 
the  most  powerful,  they  banished  all  their  opponents,  so 
that  it  was  the  usual  state  of  things  that  half  the  citizens 
should  be  living  in  exile ;  and  at  Florence,  where  the 
Guelfs  were  decidedly  the  ruling  faction,  there  was  a  second 


114  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  VIII. 

split  between  them,  and  the  two  parties,  called  the  Blacks 
and  Whites,  were  continually  fighting  in  the  streets,  be- 
sieging each  other's  houses,  and  sending  each  other  into 
exile.  All  the  older  houses  in  Florence  are  positive  fort- 
resses, heavily  and  strongly  built,  with  hardly  any  win- 
dows below,  and  capable  of  making  a  long  defence.  The 
great  Florentine  poet,  Dante  Alighieri,  the  first  who  ever 
wrote  in  Italian  instead  of  Latin,  was  of  the  White  party, 
and  was  exiled  by  the  other  faction.  In  this  exile  he  wrote 
his  great  poem,  the  Divina  Commedia,  in  which  he  repre- 
sents himself  as  beholding,  revealed  to  him  in  a  vision,  the 
three  realms  of  the  invisible  world,  the  place  of  condemna- 
tion, the  place  of  expiation,*  and  the  place  of  glory ;  and 
in  these  he  sees  and  holds  converse  with  the  spirits  of  the 
great  men  of  all  ages,  even  of  his  own  time,  and  those 
with  whom  he  had  been  personally  acquainted.  Of  course, 
all  this  involves  much  of  what  we  should  now  think  pre- 
sumption, but  Dante's  own  spirit  was  pious  and  reverent, 
and  his  poem  is  very  valuable,  not  only  for  its  beauty,  but 
as  a  guide  to  the  views  taken  by  earnest  and  religious 
men  upon  the  right  and  wrong  of  the  questions  then  at 
issue. 

The  unsettled  state  of  the  republics  afforded  an  opportu- 
nity for  tyrants  to  raise  themselves  to  unlawful  power,  ac- 
cording to  the  constant  rule,  that  democracy  ends  in  mili- 
tary despotism.  Either  some  captain-general  established 
his  power  too  firmly  to  be  shaken,  some  prince  of  the 
Apennines  took  the  city  under  his  protection,  some  noble- 
man seized  all  the  power,  or  some  great  merchant  family 
outgrew  the  rest.  The  Marchese  di  Este,  a  mountain  lord, 
was  made  ruler  of  Ferrara  first  of  all.  Cane  della  Scala 
made  himself  lord  of  Verona ;  and  Matteo  Visconti,  with 
his  four  warlike  sons,  established  a  dominion  which  the 
Milanese  were  never  able  to  shake  off.  In  Tuscany,  the 
freedom  of  the  towns  did  not  fall  so  soon ;  indeed,  the 
tyrant  of  Pisa  was  punished  in  a  fearful  manner. 

Count  Ugolino  della  Gherardesca  had  raised  himself  by 
the  most  improper  means  to  great  power :  he  had  bribed 
the  enemies  of  the  State  to  ruin  his  personal  foes ;  he  had 

♦As  a  Romanist,  Dante  believed  in  purgatory. 


THE   LOSS    OF   ACRE.  115 

killed  or  sent  into  exile  all  who  opposed  him  ;  had  pro- 
cured his  own  nomination  as  captain-general,  and  had  de- 
])rived  the  people  of  all  their  liberties.  In  the  height  of 
his  pride,  as  he  was  returning  in  state  from  his  inaugura- 
tion as  Signore  di  Pisa,  he  exclaimed  aloud,  "  Well,  what 
more  can  be  reserved  for  me  ?"  "  The  wrath  of  God,"  re- 
plied a  voice  from  the  crowd. 

Soon  after,  Ugolino,  in  a  sudden  fit  of  passion,  murdered 
a  nephew  of  the  Archbishop  of  Pisa,  a  deceitful  and  re- 
vengeful man,  who  at  first  concealed  his  anger,  in  order  to 
make  his  vengeance  more  certain.  He  watched  his  time, 
and  when  he  thought  the  citizens  sufiiciently  weary  of 
Ugolino's  tyranny,  he  harangued  the  people,  and  having 
excited  their  fury,  led  them  to  attack  the  Gherardesca 
family  in  their  palace.  After  defending  himself  for  some 
time,  Ugolino  was  made  prisoner,  with  his  sons  and  two 
grandsons,  and  shut  up  in  a  tower.  After  some  months, 
the  wicked  archbishop  nailed  up  the  door,  threw  the  keys 
into  the  Arno,  and  starved  all  the  five  to  death. 

PART  V.   THE  LOSS  OF  ACRE.   1291. 

The  moment  had  come  when  those  few  spots  in  the  Holy 
Land  which  still  remained  to  the  Christians  were  to  be 
taken  from  them.  The  Mameluke  Sultans  of  Egypt  had 
grown  more  and  more  powerful,  and  in  Asia  Minor  the  re- 
mains of  Zenghis  Khan's  Tartars  were  becoming  very 
formidable,  under  the  name  of  Turks.  Othman,  their  first 
Sultan,  took  Iconium  from  the  Saracens,  and  laid  the 
foundations  of  an  empire  even  more  dangerous  to  Christen- 
dom than  the  Turks  had  been  at  their  first  outbreak. 

Acre,  the  last  remaining  Christian  town,  was  very  well 
fortified,  and  the  two  commanderies  of  the  Orders  of  St. 
John  and  the  Temple,  were  filled  with  brave  knights,  but 
the  inhabitants  were  in  a  dreadfully  corrupt  state,  so  much 
so  that  it  was  said  to  be  the  wickedest  town  in  Syria. 
They  would  observe  no  treaty,  but  whenever  it  pleased 
them  would  come  out  and  plunder  the  Saracen  inhabitants 
of  the  country,  thus,  of  course,  bringing  vengeance  upon 
themselves.     The  Mamelukes  prepared  to  attack  them,  and 


116  LANDMAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  YIII. 

Jean  de  Villiers,  Grand  Master  of  the  Hospitallers,  went 
to  Italy,  to  entreat  the  Pope  to  cause  a  new  crusade  to  be 
preached,  as  the  only  hope  of  saving  their  last  hold  upon 
Palestine.  The  wars  of  Italy,  however,  chiefly  occupied 
Pope  Nicholas  IV.,  who  was  not  even  sufficiently  in  earnest 
to  afibrd  a  little  money  out  of  his  treasury  to  assist  the 
Grand  Master  in  fitting  out  the  few  troops  whom  he  suc- 
ceeded in  hiring — so  low  was  Europe  fallen.  The  princes 
of  the  West  were  equally  engaged  in  their  own  wars. 
Philippe  IV.,  of  France,  had  the  same  faults  as  Philippe 
Auguste,  without  his  better  qualities;  and  in  England, 
Edward  I.  had  just  lost  Eleanor,  his  better  angel,  and  had 
allowed  himself  to  be  drawn  aside  from  his  nobler  aims, 
by  the  temptation  of  making  himself  Lord  Paramount  of 
Scotland.  Rudolf  of  Hapsburg  was  just  dead,  and  neither 
his  son  Albrecht  of  Austria,  nor  the  newly-elected  Em- 
peror Adolf  of  Nassau,  were  men  of  weight  or  worth. 
Charles  II.,  of  Naples,  who  called  himself  likewise  King 
of  Jerusalem,  was  in  the  midst  of  a  war  with  Frederico  of 
Aragon,  who  had  succeeded  to  his  mother's  rights  over 
Sicily,  and  the  only  aid  which  the  Grand  Master  could  ob- 
tain was  from  the  other  titular  King  of  Jerusalem,  Henry, 
King  of  Cyprus.  He  brought  two  hundred  horse  and  five 
hundred  foot  to  Acre,  but  such  assistance  could  avail  little 
against  the  sixty  thousand  horse,  and  one  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  foot,  with  which  Sultan  Shereiff*  was  ad- 
vancing from  Egypt.  The  Templars  and  Hospitallers  drew 
in  their  forces  from  all  their  houses  and  preceptories,  and 
in  the  extremity  of  their  danger  forgot  their  jealousies  and 
fought  with  a  nobleness  and  concord  such  as  had  scarcely 
been  known  to  exist  between  the  red  and  white  crosses 
since  the  days  of  Godfrey  de  Bouillon.  The  Teutonic 
Knights,  a  German  order  of  later  foundation,  also  fought 
gallantly.  The  numbers  of  the  Mamelukes  and  Saracens 
were,  however,  overwhelming;  the  brave  defenders  of  the 
walls  slew  whole  battalions  of  them,  and  the  Sultan  scarce- 
ly perceived  the  loss,  but  sent  others  to  the  charge,  with- 
out giving  any  repose  to  the  exhausted  garrison. 

Henry  of  Cyprus,  in  despair,  embarked  his  troops,  and 
sailed  away  to  his  own  island.    A  few  days  after  vhe  Grand 


THE   LOSS    OF   ACRE.  117 

Master  of  the  Temple  was  killed  with  a  poisoned  arrow, 
and  such  a  breach  was  made  in  the  walls  that  the  enemy- 
began  to  pour  in  in  immense  numbers.  The  Hospitallers, 
upon  this,  betook  themselves  to  their  ships,  and  sailed  away 
to  Cyprus,  with  many  of  the  Templars  and  Teutonic 
Knights ;  but  two  hundred  Templars,  resolved  to  hold  out 
to  the  very  last,  shut  themselves  up  in  the  tower  of  their 
own  commandery,  and  defended  themselves  for  three  days, 
until  at  length  it  was  set  on  fire,  and  fell,  crushing  Templars 
and  Mahometans  together  in  its  ruins. 

The  nuns  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Clara,  fearing  to  be  made 
slaves  in  the  harems  of  the  Saracens,  tore  their  faces  to 
disfigure  their  beauty,  and  were  killed  by  the  enemy ;  all 
the  other  women  in  the  town,  and  the  children,  were  car- 
ried off  into  servitude,  and  the  men  were  massacred.  The 
walls  of  Acre  were  thrown  down,  and  the  whole  town 
demolished,  as  was  likewise  done  with  Tripoli  and  Tyre, 
the  latter  of  which  has  never  recovered  its  desolation,  but 
is  still  a  waste  spot,  where  the  fisherman  spreads  his  nets 
to  dry. 

After  this  destruction  of  their  only  stronghold  in  Pales- 
tine, the  Templars  dispersed  themselves  among  their  nu- 
merous rich  commanderies  in  Europe ;  the  Teutonic  Knights 
went  to  Germany,  where  they  might  still  find  heathen 
enemies  to  fight  with, .on  the  Livonian  border,  where  the 
Emperor  Frederick  II.  had  already  made  them  a  grant  of 
all  that  they  might  conquer.  The  Hospitallers  remained  in 
Cyprus,  where  they  applied  themselves  as  far  as  possible 
to  the  fulfilment  of  their  vows,  by  receiving  and  sheltering 
pilgrims,  protecting  them  on  their  journey,  and  waging 
war  with  the  numerous  pirates  of  the  Mediterranean,  thus 
still  doing  infinite  service  to  Christendom. 


r    LIBRxVliY  ^ 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

iGALIFORNIA.  J 


CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  PAPACY  AT  AYIGNON.    1297-1378. 

PART   I.       STATE  OF   LEARNING.       1297. 

The  fourteenth  century  was  the  period  at  which  all  the 
Gothic  institutions  were  displayed  in  perfection;  their 
rudeness  softened  down,  and  their  development  worked 
out.  The  Teutonic  Romanic  nations  had  not  looked  be- 
yond the  framework  of  religion,  as  they  had  first  accepted 
It ;  the  feudal  system  still  was  the  principle  of  government : 
chivalry  regulated  their  manners  and  their  modes  of  war- 
fare; the  old  Germanic  and  Celtic  traditions  were  the 
foundation  of  literature,  which  now  first  began  to  be 
written  in  the  national  languages,  Italian,  Spanish,  French, 
and  the  less  Latinized  German  and  English;  heraldry, 
painting  on  glass,  the  illumination  of  manuscripts,  carving 
m  wood  and  stone,  Gothic  art  of  every  kind,  and  especially 
architecture,  had  attained  such  beauty  as  has  never  been 
surpassed.  The  rough  ignorance  of  older  times  had  given 
place  to  considerable  cultivation ;  the  "  courteous"  de- 
meanor of  a  true  knight  had  more  of  gentleness,  his  accom- 
plishments were  not  solely  warlike,  and  he  was  often  a 
scholar,  a  minstrel,  or  a  statesman,  as  well  as  a  warrior. 

The  seeds  of  change  were,  however,  silently  sown  in  this 
century,  and  began  to  germinate  almost  in  secret,  their 
planters  little  guessing  the  great  effect  which  they  would 
produce.  An  English  friar,  of  the  Order  of  St.  Francis, 
Roger  Bacon,  sought  deeply  int6  the  secrets  of  chemistry, 
and  first  discovered  the  construction  of  gunpowder,  which 
was  destined  to  overthrow  the  whole  system  of  warfare, 
and  with  it,  all  of  chivalry  that  was  not  a  part  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  therefore  could  never  die.  In  1319  paper  was 
first  made — the  earliest  step  toward  printing,  the  art  which 
was  so  widely  to  diff'use  knowledge  and  the  spirit  of  in- 
quiry, especially  on  religious  subjects.  The  universities  of 
Padua  and  Bologna  were  studying  the  Roman  codes  of 
law ;  and  the  Florentine  poet,  Petrarch,  was  collecting  and 


STATE    OP   LEARNING.  119 

trying  to  revive  the  study  of  the  works  of  Cicero  and  the 
other  writers  of  classical  Rome ;  while  Boccaccio,  another 
Florentine,  first  promoted  the  learning  of  the  ancient 
Greek  language  and  the  reading  of  Homer.  Petrarch's 
name  is  chiefly  remembered  for  the  sake  of  the  poetry 
which  he  addressed  to  Laura,  a  Provenyal  lady,  whose 
praises  he  sung  as  her  minstrel  and  troubadour ;  and  Boc- 
caccio wrote  a  number  of  tales,  the  earliest  compositions  in 
Italian  prose ;  but  it  was  in  fact  more  by  the  revival  of 
taste,  and  admiration  for  classical  antiquity,  that  these  men 
influenced  Europe,  than  by  their  own  individual  composi- 
tions. At  the  same  time,  such  further  corruptions  arose  in 
the  practice  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  that  men  were  first 
led  to  search  and  look  whether  she  were  truly  keeping  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints. 

After  the  death  of  Pope  Nicholas  IV.  in  1297,  the  cardi- 
nals disputed  for  nearly  two  years  without  deciding  on  his 
successor;  and  at  last, .to  the  extreme  surprise  of  all  Italy, 
they  fixed  upon  Pietro  di  Morone,  an  old  hermit,  who 
lived  on  a  mountain  near  Rome,  a  very  good  but  very 
ignorant  man,  with  only  just  understanding  enough  to  en- 
able him  to  lead  his  own  simple,  pious,  and  tranquil  life  in 
his  solitude.  They  gave  him  the  name  of  Celestine  IV., 
and  installed  him  in  full  state  at  Rome,  but  the  poor  old 
man  was  extremely  miserable,  and  was  perfectly  incapable 
of  fulfilling  the  offices  that  devolved  upon  him.  Among 
the  cardinals  there  was  an  Italian  of  noble  birth,  named 
Benedetto  Caietano,  who,  though  nearly  eighty  years  of 
age,  had  by  no  means  lost  his  fiery  violent  temper  or  his 
ambition.  He  resolved  to  take  advantage  of  Celestine's 
weakness  and  simplicity  to  obtain  the  papal  crown.  Ac- 
cording to  some  accounts,  he  wickedly  contrived  to  make 
Celestine  fancy  he  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  calling  on  him 
to  resign ;  at  any  rate,  he  summoned  the  cardinals  together, 
and  gave  them  a  writing  of  abdication  drawn  up  for  him 
by  Caietano. 

They  were  tired  of  his  helplessness  and  ignorance,  and, 
though  such  a  proceeding  was  most  irregular,  accepted  his 
resignation,  and  immediately  elected  Caietano,  who  took 
the  name  of  Boniface  VIII.     Celestine  hoped  to  have  been 


120  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

allowed  to  return  to  his  hermitage  in  peace.  But  Boni- 
face, knowing  that  he  was  the  only  real  Pope,  was  afraid 
to  trust  him  out  of  his  own  hands,  and  he  kept  him  closely- 
watched.  Once  the  poor  old  man  escaped,  but  he  was  soon 
overtaken  and  brought  back  again,  piteously  entreating 
that  the  Pope  would  let  him  go,  and  promising  never  to 
molest  him.  He  was,  however,  again  placed  in  confine- 
ment, where  he  pined  and  died,  only  twenty-two  months 
after  his  unfortunate  election. 

PART   II.       BONIFACE   VIII.       1298-1303. 

The  Papacy,  so  obtained,  proved  the  source  of  still  greater 
misfortunes  to  Boniface  VIII.  At  first  his  power  lifted  him 
up  so  that  he  gave  aloose,  in  the  most  unseemly  manner, 
to  his  violent  temper,  and  thus  drew  upon  himself  a  dread- 
ful retribution.  He  had  a  great  hatred  to  the  noble  Roman 
family  of  Colonna,  whom  he  persecuted  in  every  possible 
manner,  and  at  last  drove  them  out  of  Rome,  and  besieged 
them  in  their  town  of  Palestrina.  I  inding  that  he  could 
not  take  the  place,  he  sent  for  Guido  di  Montfeltro,  who 
after  having  served  as  an  able  Ghibelline  general,  had  quit- 
ted the  world,  embraced  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  and  lived 
in  strict  penitence.  Boniface  commanded  this  man,  on  his 
vow  'of  obedience,  to  enter  the  town  as  a  friend  and  betray 
it,  absolving  him  beforehand  for  the  sin.  Montfeltro  trusted 
to  the  power  over  souls  which  he  believed  the  Pope  to  pos- 
sess, and  betrayed  the  Colonna,  who,  however,  were  warned 
in  time,  and  fled  to  France.  This  dreadful  crime  must  not, 
however,  be  charged  on  the  whole  Church  of  Rome,  since 
we  find  that  sincere  Roman  Catholics,  at  that  very  time, 
did  not  think  this  absolution  valid.  >. 

The  King  of  France  was  the  worst  enemy  of  Boniface. 
Philippe  IV.,  called  by  his  subjects  Philippe  le  Bel,  but 
better  deserving  the  name  given  him  by  Dante,  the  Pest  of 
France,  was  one  of  the  worst  kings  that  ever  reigned.  He 
was  clever,  crafty,  and  ambitious,  and  extremely  covetous ; 
he  debased  the  coinage,  fearfully  oppressed  his  subjects, 
robbed  and  banished  the  Lombards,  and  cruelly  persecuted 
the  Jews,  all  for  the  sake  of  gratifying  his  avarice.     He 


BOXIFACE    VIII.  121 

had  married  Jeanne,  heiress  of  Navarre,  and  was  king  of 
that  country,  as  well  as  his  own.  The  only  prince  in  Europe 
whose  power  and  abilities  were  by  any  means  a  match  for 
his,  was  Edward  I.  of  England,  but  he,  unfortunately,  was 
so  much  set  upon  reducing  Scotland,  that  he  neglected  his 
affairs  in  France,  and  through  this  neglect,  and  his  desire 
of  at  any  cost  obtaining  peace  in  that  quarter,  allowed 
Philippe  not  only  to  cheat  him  out  of  his  county  of  Guienne, 
but  to  draw  him  into  a  grievous  crime. 

Guy  de  Dampierre,  Count  of  Flanders,  was  a  firm  ally 
of  England,  and  his  daughter  was  betrothed  to  Edward  of 
Caernarvon,  first  Prince  of  Wales,  the  son  of  Edward  I. 
Trusting  to  the  aid  of  England,  Guy  took  up  arms  against 
France,  but  the  promised  assistance  was  never  sent.  Flan- 
ders was  overrun  by  the  enemy,  and  Guy,  who  had  come  to 
the  French  camp  on  the  faith  of  a  safe  conduct  from 
Philippe,  was  thrown  into  prison  with  his  daughter,  and 
never  released.  Not  only  did  Edward  never  interfere  in 
his  behalf,  but  he  accepted  Philippe's  proposal  of  giving 
his  own  daughter,  Isabelle,  to  the  Prince  of  Wales, — a  mar- 
riage which  in  after-time  brought  fearful  sufferings  on  both 
England  and  France. 

The  Bishop  of  Pamiers,  in  Narbonne,  was  appointed  by 
Boniface  papal  legate  to  France,  and  he  spoke  so  boldly 
to  Philippe  on  his  crimes,  and. especially  his  treatment  of 
the  Count  of  Flanders,  that  the  king  was  offended,  and  im- 
prisoned him.  The  Pope  wrote  to  require  his  release,  at 
the  same  time  admonishing  the  king  of  his  faults,  and  call- 
ing on  the  clergy  to  take  their  proper  place  in  preventing 
his  illegal  measures. 

The  French  clergy  were,  however,  more  subservient  to 
the  Crown  than  those  in  any  other  country.  ^  Church  mat- 
ters had  always  hitherto  gone  on  with  great  tranquillity ; 
no  collisions  of  authority,  like  those  in  England  and  Ger- 
many, had  taken  place  between  Church  and  State,  and 
except  in  the  time  of  the  interdict  on  Philippe  Auguste, 
which  was  caused  by  a  moral  crime,  about  which  there 
could  be  no  question.  King  and  Pope  had  always  gone  on 
hand  in  hand,  and  the  limits  of  their  authority  had  never 
been  defined.     It  thus  happened  that  the  Crown  had  insen- 

6 


122  LANDMAKKS    OF    HISTORY.  [ciJAP.  IX. 

sibly  taken  all  those  powers  over  the  bishops  which  had  in 
other  centuries  been  so  hotly  contested,  and  Philippe  had 
around  him  a  set  of  clergy  so  much  in  his  own  pow  er,  that 
he  could  gain  their  consent  to  whatever  he  chose. 

In  his  anger  w^ith  Boniface,  he  called  them  together,  and 
drew  up  an  act  of  accusation  against  the  Pope,  for  his 
irregular  election,  and  for  a  great  many  crimes  of  which 
Boniface,  though  far  from  being  a  good  man,  was  certainly 
innocent.  The  dispute  ran  very  high ;  Philippe  made  the 
French  clergy  declare  sentence  of'  deposition  against  the 
Pope ;  and  the  Pope,  in  return,  excommunicated  both  him 
and  them. 

Upon  this,  Philippe  sent  off  Boniface's  greatest  enemy, 
Sciarra  Colonna,  Guillaume  de  Nogaret,  a  Provenyal 
knight,  and  three  hundred  horse,  who,  travelling  with  the 
utmost  despatch,  suddenly  arrived  at  Anagni,  the  Pope's 
native  town,  where  he  was  then  residing.  What  Philippe 
really  intended  them  to  do  is  not  known,  but  it  can  scarcely 
be  accusing  him  unjustly,  to  think  that  he  meant  that  with- 
out positive  orders  on  his  part,  they  should  fulfil  his  wishes, 
as  Becket's  murderers  did  those  of  Henry  II. 

Their  determination,  however,  failed.  Boniface  was  in- 
deed far  inferior  to  Becket,  but  on  this  occasion  he  acted 
with  firmness  and  dignity.  When  his  enemies  forced  their 
way  into  his  palace,  they  found  him  before  the  altar,  his 
white  hair  flowing  on  his  purple  robes,  and  his  face  full  of 
an  expression  of  nobleness,  which  daunted  them ;  and  when 
he  turned  to  Nogaret,  and  said,  that  from  his  hands  he  ex- 
pected the  crown  of  martyrdom,  they  turned  away  con- 
founded, and  laid  no  hand  upon  him. 

They  spent  three  days  in  plundering  his  treasures,  at  the 
end  of  which  time,  the  inhabitants  of  Anagni,  awakening 
from  the  surprise  of  their  sudden  attack,  rose  upon  them, 
and  released  him.  He  instantly  went  to  Koine  for  security, 
but  there  it  appeared  that  the  agitation  had  completely  over- 
thrown the  balance  of  his  mind.  He  gave  way  to  fits  of  im- 
potent fury  against  the  French,  and  the  House  of  Colonna, 
and  acted  in  such  a  frenzied  manner,  that  the  cardinals 
tliought  it  best  to  confine  him  to  his  house.  This  he  fancied 
was  a  renewal  of  the  outrage  of  Nogaret ;  he  spent  a  whole 


DESTRUCTION    OF   THE    ORDER    OF   THE    TEMPLE.         123 

day  without  taking  food,  and  in  bursts  of  passion ;  he  shut 
liiniself  up  in  his  own  room  at  night,  and  in  the  morning 
was  found  dead  on  his  bed,  the  coverings  drawn  closely 
over  his  mouth,  a  stick  clenched  fast  in  his  hand,  gnawed 
all  over,  and  marked  with  foam,  and  his  white  hair  stained 
with  blood,  as  if,  in  a  fit  of  rage,  he  had  dashed  his  head 
against  the  wall,  and  then  stitied  himself  with  the  bed- 
clothes. This  wretched  old  man  died  in  1303,  in  the  eighty- 
sixth  year  of  his  age. 

PART  III.       DESTRTJCnON  OF  THE  ORDER  OF  THE 
TEMPLE.       1303-1314. 

Benedict  XL  was  elected  in  the  place  of  Boniface  VIIT., 
and  proceeded  to  excommunicate  the  authors  of  the  out- 
rage. No  sooner  was  this  news  carried  to  Philippe  IV., 
than  knowing  Benedict  to  be  a  good  and  upright  man,  he 
resolved  to  be  rid  of  liim,  and  bribed  two  of  the  cardinals 
to  poison  him,  so  that  he  died  early  in  1304. 

A  great  many  of  the  cardinals  had  accepted  bribes  from 
Philij^pe,  but  about  half  the  conclave  were  firmly  opposed 
to  him,  and  it  seemed  as  if  they  would  never  come  to  an 
election.  At  last  they  settled  that  the  cardinals  of  the 
party  hostile  to  France  should  choose  three  persons,  all 
Frenchmen,  and  that  those  of  the  French  party  should  fix 
on  one  of  them  to  be  Pope. 

The  three  were  chosen  who  were  thought  to  have  the 
greatest  motives  for  hatred  to  Philippe  ;  whose  friends,  on 
the  other  hand,  sent  to  ask  him  which  of  them  he  wished 
to  have  appointed.  Philippe  had  reason  to  think  that  of 
the  three,  the  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux  had  the  least  prin- 
ciple and  firmness,  and  he  therefore  resolved  to  let  him  be 
elected,  first,  however,  making  his  own  terms.  For  this 
purpose  he  went  secretly  from  Paris,  met  the  archbishop 
in  an  abbey  near  St.  Jean  d'Angely,  and  promised  him  his 
influence  on  six  conditions.  Four  of  these  related  to  the 
old  quarrel  with  Boniface,  the  fifth  was  that  Philippe  should 
rob  the  clergy  of  France  of  all  their  tithes  for  five  years, 
and  the  sixth  was  not  to  be  revealed  at  present. 

To  these  shameful  terms  the    archbishop  agreed,  and 


124  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

having  thus  sold  himself,  the   king   sent  orders  that  he 
should  be  elected,  and  he  took  the  name  of  Clement  V. 

Philippe  would  not  trust  his  miserable  tool  out  of  his 
kingdom,  and  instead  of  coming  to  Rome,  Clement  sent 
for  the  cardinals  to  consecrate  him  at  Lyons.  The  papal 
court  was  afterwards  established*  at  Avignon,  a  little  town 
in  Provence,  so  that  Rome  was  left  deserted  by  its  bishop, 
and  the  Pope,  though  considered  as  the  head  of  the  West- 
ern Church,  could  do  nothing  without  the  consent  of  the 
Kings  of  France  and  Naples. 

It  is  hard  to  imagine  a  more  wretched  position  than  that 
of  Clement  V.,  feeling  his  degradation,  bitterly  hating 
King  Philippe,  and  yet  without  steadiness  to  resist  his 
wicked  will.  He  tried  in  vain  to  make  the  king  forget  his 
sixth  condition,  by  loading  his  family  with  honors,  giving 
his  brother  Charles  de  Valois  the  title  of  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many, Vicar-general  of  the  Pope  in  Italy,  and  King  of 
Sicily ;  he  let  Philippe  despoil  the  Church  as  mu'ch  as  he 
pleased,  and  censured  whomsoever  the  king  chose ;  but 
still  the  sixth  condition  hung  over  him,  and  a  dreadful  one 
it  was.  It  was,  that  he  would  give  up  the  whole  Order  of 
Knights  Templars  to  be  pillaged  and  massacred  by  the 
king. 

The  Order  of  the  Temple  had  not,  like  that  of  St.  John, 
continued  in  the  East,  where  at  this  very  time  the  Hospi- 
tallers, under  the  brave  Grand-Master  Foulques  de  Villaret, 
were  conquering  for  themselves  the  island  of  Rhodes,  and 
establishing  a  great  maritime  power  there,  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  seas  from  pirates. 

The  Templars  had,  on  the  other  hand,  taken  up  their 
abode  in  their  numerous  houses  throughout  Europe,  and 
there  lived  in  considerable  ease  and  luxury,  in  spite  of  the* 
strict  rules  of  their  Order.  They  were  of  high  birth,  and 
many  had  all  the  pride  of  the  feudal  nobles ;  their  riches 
liad  become  great,  and  there  is  no  doubt,  that  with  no  reg- 
ular occupation,  and  trained  to  arms  as  they  were,  they 
might  become  very  dangerous  to  the  kings  around  them. 
This,  however,  is  not  the  least  excuse  for  Philippe  le  Bel, 
who  wanted  only  their  riches,  and  acted  as  a  perfidious 
Racrilegious   murderer.      He    invited    the   Templars    into 


DESTEUCTION    OF    THE    ORDER    OF   THE    TEMPLE.        125 

France,  to  consult  on  a  new  Crusade,  and  in  the  same 
night  caused  his  troops  to  surround  their  houses,  and  make 
them  prisoners.  The  Grand-Master,  Jacques  de  Molay,  was 
taken  at  the  tower  of  the  Temple  at  Paris,  with  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  of  his  knijjhts,  by  the  wicked  Nogaret. 

On  Sunday,  two  days  after,  the  prosecution  commenced. 
The  Templars  were  declared  guilty  of  numerous  horrible 
and  revolting  crimes,  of  blaspheming  and  insulting  the 
Cross,  of  worshipping  the  devil,  of  practising  sorcery,  of 
murderinoj  children,  of  havins:  sold  Acre  to  the  infidels. 
In  order  to  obtain  some  kind  of  proof  of  these  accusations, 
many  of  the  knights  were  put  to  the  torture;  to  force  a  con- 
fession from  them.  Some  died  under  their  torments,  de- 
claring they  knew  of  no  such  things,  but  others  unfortu- 
nately yielded,  and  purchased  a  short  respite  from  their 
sufferings,  by  assenting  to  whatever  was  put  into  their 
mouths.  The  Grand-Master,  Jacques  de  Molay,  at  first  de- 
clared the  untruth  of  all  that  was  alleged  against  them ; 
but  his  spirit  was  broken  by  a  long  imprisonment ;  ques- 
tions were  put  to  him  in  Latin,  which  he  only  half  under- 
stood, and  a  sort  of  confession  was  drawn  from  him. 

That  persecuting  tribunal,  the  Inquisition,  sentenced  the 
Templars  to  death  by  fire  ;  and  forty  or  fifty  at  a  time  these 
brave  kni2;hts  were  dracrsjed  out  on  hurdles  and  burnt,  all 
professing  their  mnocence  with  their  last  breath.  Their 
order  was  dissolved,  and  commands  were  sent  to  the  kings 
of  other  countries  to  seize  their  persons  and  their  wealth. 
Nowhere  but  in  France  were  they  put  to  death,  but  the 
main  body  of  them  had  been  collected  there,  and  were 
there  destroyed  ;  the  others  were  few  in  number,  and  with- 
out lands  and  without  a  centre  they  soon  died  away. 
Philippe  himself  gained  immense  riches,  by  seizing  their 
lands  in  France ;  his  son-in-law,  Edward  II.  in  England, 
and  his  cousin,  Charles  II.  of  Naples,  followed  his  example, 
by  taking  their  property,  as  did  the  kings  of  Castile  and 
Aragon.  In  Germany,  their  domains  were  given  to  the 
Teutonic  Knights ;  and  in  Portugal  the  brave  and  good 
King  Diniz  took  the  knights  themselves  under  his  protec- 
tion, and  instead  of  appropriating  their  lands,  formed  them 
into  a  new  order,  by  the  name  of  the  Order  of  Christ. 


126  LANDMAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

The  Grand-Master,  Jacques  de  Molay,  with  three  of  his 
Grand  Priors,  were  kept  in  prison  for  six  years,  till  all  their 
knights  had  been  burnt,  and  were  then  led  out  to  hear  their 
confession  read  over,  and  to  be  sentenced  to  perpetual  im- 
prisonment. On  this  occasion  they  all  four  spoke  out 
boldly,  declared  that  the  whole  accusation  was  a  horrible 
falsehood,  called  all  present  to  hear  their  testimony  to  the 
innocence  of  their  murdered  brethren,  and  declared  them- 
selves ready  to  share  their  fate. 

They  shared  it  that  very  evening.  Philippe  condemned 
them  at  once,  without  having  recourse  to  the  Inquisition, 
and  the  four  knights  were  led  out  together,  in  their  shrouds, 
with  their  hands  chained,  firm  and  patient,  and  their  only 
care  to  clear  their  brethren  from  the  horrible  stain  on  their 
memory.  They  were  burned  in  a  slow  fire  on  the  11th  of 
March,  1314,  and  the  last  time  the  voice  of  Jacques  de 
Molay  was  heard,  while  the  smoke  was  curling  round  his 
venerable  head,  was  this  summons,  "  I  call  on  the,  Clement 
Pope  of  Rome,  and  on  thee,  Philippe  King  of  France  and 
Navarre,  to  appear,  the  one  within  forty  days,  the  other  in 
less  than  a  year,  before  the  judgment-seat  of  God,  to  an- 
swer for  your  crimes  done  upon  me  and  my  brethren." 
Such,  at  least,  is  the  account  given  by  some  historians, 
while  others  think  that  the  story  of  the  prophecy  arose 
from  the  fact  of  the  two  chief  persecutors  of  the  Oi-der 
dying  so  soon  after  its  extermination. 

On  the  fortieth  day  Clement  V.  died  of  a  short  illness ; 
in  the  November  following,  Philippe  le  Bel  was  thrown 
from  his  horse  while  hunting,  and  so  much  injured,  that  a 
fever  came  on,  and  he  died,  in  the  46th  year  of  his  age. 
He  left  three  sons,  each  of  whom  had  a  short  reign,  and 
died,  leaving  no  male  heir ;  the  kingdom  of  Navarre  went 
to  Jeanne,  the  daughter  of  his  eldest  son,  and  France  to 
Philippe,  son  of  his  brother  Charles  de  Valois,  but  the  suc- 
cession was  disputed  by  Edward  III.,  son  of  his  daughter 
Isabel,  and  the  wars  which  were  thus  brought  on  France, 
desolated  that  country  for  four  generations.  Lastly,  it  was 
the  Tour  du  Temple  that  was  the  scene  of  the  woes  of  those 
innocent  descendants  of  Philippe  le  Bel,  on  whom  the  sins 
of  the  royal  line  of  France  were  so  heavily  visited. 


SWISS    INBEPEXDEXCE.  127 

PART   IV.       SWISS    INDEPENDENCE.       1298-1308. 

Albrecht,  Duke  of  Austria,  son  of  Rudolf  von  Hapsburc^, 
in  1298,  gained  a  victory  at  Worms,  over  his  rival  Adolf 
von  Nassau,  and  received  the  crown  of  Germany  at  Aix- 
la-Chapelle. 

The  eldest  son  of  the  great  Rudolf  had  died  young, 
leaving  a  son  named  Johann,  from  whom  his  uncle  Al- 
brecht took  his  whole  paternal  inheritance  of  Hapsburg 
and  Swabia,  at  first  under  pretence  of  being  his  guardian ; 
and  afterward,  when  he  grew  up  and  claimed  his  rights, 
the  king  only  answered  by  putting  a  garland  of  flowers 
on  his  head,  and  telling  him  those  were  the  crowns  suited 
to  his  age. 

In  the  same  unjust  and  grasping  manner  as  he  used  his 
nephew,  did  Albrecht  treat  all  his  subjects,  trying  to  get 
into  his  hands  power  which  had  never  properly  belonged 
to  his  predecessors,  either  as  Emperors  or  Dukes  of  Austria. 
His  chief  usurpation  was  in  Switzerland.  The  brave  moun- 
tain peasants  of  the  Alps  were  divided  into  little  forest 
cantons,  some  of  them  belonging  to  the  Count  of  Haps- 
burg, but  the  greater  number  owning  the  emperor  alone 
as  their  lord,  as  did  also  the  three  towns  of  Berne,  Zurich, 
and  Friburg.  Albrecht  was  resolved  to  attach  these  all 
alike  to  his  hereditary  dukedom  of  Austria,  with  which  of 
course  they  had  nothing  to  do.  He  seized  the  princij)al 
castles,  and  placed  oppressive  governors  in  them.  The 
worst  of  these  tyrants  was  Herman  Gesler,  at  the  town  of 
Altdorf,  where  he  treated  with  great  pride  and  harshness 
the  peasants  in  the  three  surrounding  cantons  of  Uri, 
Schwytz,  and  Unterwalden. 

Seeing  a  new  house  built  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town, 
Gesler  asked  whose  it  was,  and  hearing  it  belonged  to  one 
Werner  of  Stauffach,  he  said,  "I  will  not  that  peasants 
build  houses  without  my  permission,  nor  that  they  live 
like  free  lords." 

This  speech  alarmed  Werner,  and  being  further  stirred 
up  by  his  wife,  he  took  counsel  with  some  of  the  other  dis- 
contented peasants.  Walter  Furst  and  Arnold  Melchthal, 
met  him  at  night  on  the  borders  of  the  lake,  and  having 


128  LANDMARKS.  OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

come  to  an  understanding  with  each  other,  they  each 
brought  ten  trusty  friends,  and  all  together  they  took  an 
oath  to  maintain  the  rights  of  Switzerlaiid,  neither  to  suffer 
nor  to  do  wrong,  and,  while  they  fought  for  their  own  free- 
dom, to  support  the  lawful  claims  of  the  empire  and  of 
Hapsburg.  They  agreed  to  take  measures  for  rising 
against  Gesler,  on  the  first  night  of  the  year  1808. 

It  was  now  late  in  the  autumn,  and  their  preparations 
were  being  carried  on  as  speedily  and  secretly  as  possible, 
when  Gesler,  in  his  excess  of  pride,  further  insulted  the 
peasantry,  by  setting  up  his  hat  on  a  pole  in  the  market- 
place at  Altdorf,  and  commanding  all  passers-by  to  do 
homage  to  it,  under  severe  penalties.  A  few  days  after, 
William  Tell,  a  chamois-hunter  of  Uri,  esteemed  the  best 
marksman,  and  the  best  steersman  in  the  canton,  was 
brought  before  him,  accused  of  having  three  times  passed 
the  hat  without  saluting  it.  With  one  of  those  cruel  freaks 
of  which  the  feudal  tyrants  were  often  guilty,  Gesler  de- 
cided that  Toll's  punishment  should  be  to  shoot  an  apple 
placed  on  the  head  of  his  son,  a  child  six  years  old,  con- 
demning him  to  death  if  he  refused.  The  little  boy  him- 
self held  the  apple  on  his  head;  his  father  shot  with  a 
steady  hand,  and  pierced  the  apple.  Gesler  remarked  that 
he  had  still  another  arrow  in  his  belt,  and  asked  him  for 
what  it  was  intended.  "  To  have  pierced  your  heart,  had 
I  slain  my  son,"  answered  Tell,  boldly.  Gesler  in  a  rage 
ordered  the  prisoner  to  be  bound,  and  thrown  into  the  bot- 
tom of  a  boat,  in  which  he  proceeded  to  convey  him  across 
the  lake  of  Uri  to  the  dungeons  of  the  castle  of  Kussnach. 

On  the  way  a  fierce  gust  of  wind  swept  suddenly  down 
from  the  mountains  on  the  waters  of  the  little  lake,  and 
the  boat  was  in  such  extreme  danger  that  Gesler,  as  the 
only  hope  of  safety,  was  obliged  to  unbind  his  prisoner  and 
give  him  the  helm.  William  Tell  safely  steered  it  toward 
the  shore,  and  as  soon  as  he  came  near  enough,  with  a 
sudden  spring,  leaped  upon  a  flat  rock,  and  pushing  away 
the  boat  with  his  foot,  dashed  up  the  mountains  with  such 
speed  as  was  only  possessed  by  the  chamois-hunters  of  the 
Alps ;  then  turning,  as  he  saw  his  enemies  attempting  to 
pursue  him,  he  drew  his  other  arrow,  and   shot  Gesler 


SYv'ISS    IXDEPEXDEXCE.  129 

through  the  heart. — In  regard  to  the  story  of  Toll's  brave 
resistance  to  Gesler,  recent  historical  investigation  has  de- 
cided that  there  is  no  anthority  for  it ;  but  it  has  become 
so  celebrated  that,  like  many  other  myths,  it  is  necessary 
to  know  when  it  is  reported  to  have  happened. 

Messengers  were  sent  to  the  confederate  Swiss  in  every 
quarter,  and  before  the  Germans  had  time  to  recover  from 
their  confusion  at  the  death  of  their  leader,  the  whole  of 
the  three  cantons  were  in  a  state  of  insurrection.  The 
fortresses  which  Albrecht  had  built  were  seized  by  force  or 
stratagem ;  all  his  troops  were  expelled,  and  on  the  6th  of 
January,  1308,  the  deputies  from  the  cantons  and  towns 
met  at  Brunnen,  and  formed  a  league  of  mutual  defence  of 
their  liberties,  as  far  as  was  consistent  with  their  duty  to- 
ward the  emperor,  a  league  which  was  the  origin  of  the 
present  Swiss  Confederation. 

Albrecht  was  exceedingly  enraged  when  he  heard  of  the 
rising  in  Switzerland,  and  vowed  vengeance  against  the 
peasants,  but  vengeance  had  in  secret  been  vowed  against 
him  by  his  nephew  Johann,  together  with  five  other  nobles, 
whom  he  had  equally  injured.  On  the  first  of  May,  1308, 
Albrecht  was  riding  from  Stein  to  Baden,  with  his  nephew, 
the  Baron  Rudolf  von  der  Wart,  and  a  few  other  attend- 
ants: they  found  but  one  boat  to  carry  them  across  the 
Reuss,  and  were  obliged  to  separate,  Johann  and  der  Wart 
contriving  to  be  of  the  first  party  with  the  emperor.  As 
soon  as  they  had  reached  the  opposite  bank,  and  were 
close  under  the  walls  of  the  castle  of  Hapsburg,  Johann 
seized  his  uncle's  horse  by  the  rein,  crying,  "  Let  us  see 
whether  my  father's  possessions  will  be  restored  to  me  ?" 
Albrecht,  alarmed,  began  to  make  fair  promises,  but  they 
were  cut  short  by  Rudolf  von  der  Wart,  who  rushed  on 
him  and  stabbed  him  with  a  dagger ;  Johann  pierced  his 
throat  with  a  lance,  and  a  third  noble  cleft  his  skull  with  a 
sword.  They  then  galloped  away,  and  the  emperor  ex- 
pired a  few  minutes  after,  with  his  head  on  the  lap  of  a 
poor  peasant  woman,  who  had  been  brought  to  the  spot 
by  the  sound  of  the  tumult. 

Johann  escaped  to  Italy,  but  his  remorse  was  so  dread- 
ful, that  after  wandering  for  some  time,  he  threw  himsell 

G* 


130  LAXDMAKKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  IX. 

at  the  feet  of  the  Pope,  confessed  his  crime,  and  in  expia- 
tion, submitted  to  a  life-long  penance  in  a  convent  at  Rsa. 
Agnes,  the  widow  of  Albrecht,  took  a  frightful  ven- 
geance for  her  husband's  death,  cruelly  torturing  and  exe- 
cuting, not  only  the  conspirators  themselves,  but  all  their 
male  relations,  friends,  and  dependents ;  the  bloodshed  was 
dreadful,  and  has  been  a  by-word  for  revenge  ever  since. 
The  one  bright  spot  in  this  horrible  scene  was  Gertrude, 
the  noble  wife  of  the  Baron  von  der  Wart,  who  attended 
him  devotedly  throughout  his  sufferings — watched  by  him 
all  night,  when  he  was  left  with  his  limbs  broken  to  die 
upon  the  wheel ;  endured,  as  if  she  heard  them  not,  the 
jeers  of  the  unwomanly  Agnes,  her  court,  and  the  mob ; 
climbed  up  to  support  his  head,  and  moistened  his  lips  with 
water,  which  she  brought  in  her  shoe,  and  was  rewarded 
by  his  last  words,  "  Gertrude,  this  is  love  till  death  !" 

PART   V.       HEINRICH    AND   JOHANN    OF   LUXEMBUKiJ. 

1308-1333. 

The  electors  chose,  after  the  death  of  Albrecht  of  Austria, 
Heinrich,  Count  of  Lutzelburg,  the  little  castle,  or,  as  it  is 
usually  called,  Luxemburg,  near  Treves.  He  was  a  gallant, 
chivalrous,  religious  prince,  exceedingly  beloved,  and  more 
anxious  for  the  welfare  of  the  empire  than  for  the  enlarge- 
ment of  his  own  hereditary  possessions.  The  only  step  he 
took  for  the  aggrandizement  of  his  own  family  was  the 
giving  his  son  Johann  in  marriage  to  Elizabeth,  the  heiress 
of  the  last  King  of  Bohemia. 

Heinrich  was  the  first  sovereign  of  Germany,  since 
Frederick  II.,  who  had  been  crowned  emperor  at  Rome, 
or  who  had  concerned  himself  with  Italian  affairs.  The 
House  of  Anjou,  at  Naples,  had  become  very  powerful ; 
Charles  Robert,  the  eldest  son  of  Charles  II.,  had  been  in- 
vited by  the  Hungarians  to  be  their  king,  and  the  suc- 
cession of  Naples  had  fallen  to  tlie  next  brother,  Robert,  a 
learned  and  clever  man,  who  was  considered  as  the  head  of 
the  Guelf  party  in  Italy.  He  sent  his  forces  to  occupy 
Rome,  when  Heinrich  came  to  be  crowned  there,  and  the 
Germans  tried  in  vain  to  dislodge  them  from  St.  Peter's 


HEINEICH    AND   JOHANN    OF   LUXEMBURG.  131 

Church,  so  that  the  emperor  was  obliged  to  receive  the 
crown  in  the  Church  of  St.  John  Lateran,  and  was  there  so 
suri'ounded  w4th  enemies  that  their  arrows  fell  on  the  steps 
of  the  altar  where  he  knelt. 

He  aftei^ward  returned  to  the  north  of  Italy,  where  he 
made  war  on  Florence,  Genoa,  and  the  other  Guelf  repub- 
lics, assisted  by  the  steady  Ghibelline  city  of  Pisa,  and  by 
all  the  tyrants  of  the  cities  of  Lombardy,  to  whom  he  gave 
titles,  and,  as  far  as  was  in  his  power,  legalized  their  au- 
thority. The  Guelfs,  and  especially  tEfe  wicked  Pope 
Clement  V.,  hated  him  exceedingly ;  and  at  Buonconvento, 
near  Sienna,  a  monk  had  the  horrible  wickedness  to  give 
him  poison  in  the  Holy  Commimion.*  As  soon  as  he  was 
conscious  of  its  effects,  he  said  to  the  traitor,  "  In  the  cup 
of  life,  thou  hast  offered  me  death  !  Fly  and  save  thyself, 
before  my  followers  arrest  thee  !"  His  physicians  had 
hoped  to  save  him,  but  his  reverence  for  the  holy  elements 
would  not  allow  him  to  employ  any  remedies  against  the 
poison,  and  he  died  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  August,  1313. 

His  son  Joliann,  King  of  Bohemia,  was  a  strange  char- 
acter, a  thorough  knight-errant,  concerned  with  every  one's 
affairs  but  his  own.  He  greatly  disliked  his  rude  barbar- 
ous Sclavonic  kingdom,  and  his  queen,  who  was  always 
taking  part  with  the  Bohemians  against  his  improvements ; 
so  he  left  her  to  govern  it  as  she  chose,  sent  his  son  Charles 
to  be  educated  in  France,  and  was  sure  to  be  found  himself 
wherever  any  battle  was  to  be  fought. 

Two  emperors  had  been  chosen  by  two  different  parties 
of  the  electors,  Friedrich  of  Austria,  and  Ludwig  of  Ba- 
varia, and  both  had  been  crowned — Friedrich  by  the  right 
person,  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  but  in  the  wrong  place  ; 
and  Ludwig  in  the  right  place,  Aix-la-Chapelle,  but  not  by 
the  right  bishop.  Johann  gave  all  his  support  to  Ludwig, 
and  at  the  great  battle  of  Muhldorf,  Friedrich  was  defeated 
and  made  prisoner.  After  a  few  years,  however,  Ludwig 
visited  him  in  his  prison,  released  him,  and  undertook  to 
share  his  power  with  him.  They  always  signed  all  impe- 
rial acts  together,  making  their  names  change  places  every 
day,  that  one  might  not  appear  to  be  superior  to  the  other. 

*  This  story  is,  however,  disputed. 


lo2  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTOliY.  [CHAP.   IX 

Ludwig  made  an  expedition  to  Italy,  but  he  did  not  ap- 
pear there  with  so  much  credit  as  Heinrich  VII.  had  done ; 
he  did  not  keep  faith  with  his  Ghibelline  friends  ;  he  made 
unreasonable  demands  of  the  Pisans,  and  when  they  refused, 
he  took  and  pillaged  the  town ;  he  stripped  the  children  of 
his  best  friend,  Castruccio  Castracani,  of  the  town  of  Lucca, 
and  behaved  shamefully  to  the  Visconti  of  Milan.  For  his 
invasion  of  Italy  (not  for  his  perfidy),  he  was  excommuni- 
cated by  the  Gascon  Pope  John  XXII.,  whereupon  he  set 
up  an  anti-pope,  and  took  no  heed  of  the  sentence  under 
which  he  remained  all  the  rest  of  his  life. 

On  his  return  to  Germany  he  left  behind  him  a  company 
of  soldiers,  who  hired  themselves  out  to  the  different  States, 
to  light  for  them.  From  that  time  it  became  the  usual 
practice  with  the  Italians,  a  mercantile,  unwarlike  people, 
to  hire  bands  of  Germans  to  light  their  battles ;  but  they 
suffered  severely  for  their  want  of  spirit,  since  these  for- 
eigners, caring  for  nothing  but  pay,  never  fought  in  earnest, 
and  often,  when  without  employment,  formed  themselves 
into  independent  companies,  and  went  from  one  little  State 
to  another,  plundering  the  country,  or  requiring  heavy  con- 
tributions for  sparing  it. 

The  Italians  could  never  succeed  in  keeping  at  peace 
with  each  other,  and  in  1333,  King  Johann  of  Bohemia 
was  invited  to  see  if  he  could  settle  their  disputes.  He 
was  in  earnest  at  first,  and  his  high-minded,  straightforward 
simplicity  won  upon  them,  so  that  they  gave  up  many  of 
their  unjust  claims,  and  concluded  a  peace ;  but  he  was  a 
man  of  more  brilliancy  than  steadiness,  and  soon  growing 
weary  of  them,  he  left  them  to  their  own  disputes,  and 
went  to  France,  the  country  which  he  preferred,  and  where 
he  now  gave  his  daughter  Bonne  in  marriage  to  Jean,  eld- 
est son  of  King  Philippe  YI. 


PART   VI.        WARS    OF    EDWARD    III.    AND    PHILIPPE    VI. 

1327-1350. 

On  the  death  of  Charles  le  Bel,  the  last  son  of  Philippe 
lY.,  the  crown  of  France  had,  according  to  the  forced 


WARS    OF    EDWARD    III.    AND    PHILIPPE    VI.  133 

interpretation  of  the  ancient  Salic  law  of  the  Franks,  de- 
volved upon  Philippe,  Count  de  Valois,  son  of  Charles, 
second  son  of  Philippe  le  Hardi,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  the 
daughters  of  the  three  sons  of  Philippe  le  Bel,  and  of 
course  to  that  of  Isabel,  Queen  of  England,  their  sister. 
Isabel  had,  however,  on  the  death  of  her  brother  Charles, 
protested  that  she  did  not  give  up  the  rights  of  her  sou 
Edward,  for  it  was  thought  that  though  a  woman  might 
not  reign,  yet  riglits  might  be  transmitted  through  her. 

For  some  time,  however,  no  notice  was  taken  of  this  ap- 
peal. Edward  III.  was  still  very  young,  he  w\as  involved 
in  a  war  with  Scotland,  and  as  long  as  Isabel  retained  the 
government,  she  was  unwilling  to  commence  a  war  with 
her  own  country  ;  but  when  Edward  had  freed  himself  from 
the  unworthy  bondage  in  which  he  was  held  by  her  and 
her  favorite,  Mortimer,  and  had  made  peace  with  the  feeble 
regency  in  Scotland,  he  had  leisure  to  think  of  other  wars. 
Philippe  yi.  had  allowed  Robert,  Count  d'Aitois,  though 
his  own  brother-in-law,  to  be  despoiled  of  his  inheritance, 
and  refused  him  any  assistance.  Robert  vowed  vengeance, 
and  Philippe,  fancying  that  he  sought  to  obtain  it  by  sor- 
cery, declared  him  an  outlaw,  and  forbade  any  of  his  vas- 
sals to  receive  him.  Robert  fled  to  England,  and  began  to 
excite  the  ambition  of  Edward  III.  by  persuading  him  to 
put  forward  his  claim  to  the  French  crown. 

Edward,  young  and  high-spirited,  at  the  head  of  a  brave 
and  rich  people,  who  loved  him  devotedly,  was  willing  and 
able  to  take  up  the  cause  of  Robert.  The  great  towns  of 
Liege,  Ghent,  Bruges,  &c.,  in  Flanders,  were  at  this  time 
fast  rising  into  opulence,  by  their  manufactures  of  woollen 
cloths,  and  other  trades,  and  were  impatient  of  the  au- 
thority of  Louis,  the  Count  whom  France  had  forced  upon 
them  after  the  death  of  Guy  de  Dampierre.  He  had  been 
brought  up  at  Paris,  had  married  a  daughter  of  Philippe 
v.,  and  was  a  Frenchman  in  all  his  habits  and  manners, 
oppressive  and  violent,  and  despising  the  Flemish  artisans. 
Rebellions  broke  out,  and  Jacob  von  Artevelde,  a  brewer 
of  Ghent,  raised  himself  to  great  power,  kept  a  guard  of 
soldiers  around  him,  and  was  obeyed  like  a  prince  through- 
out Flanders. 


134  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

With  these  rebels  Edward  allied  himself;  he  came  to 
Ghent  with  his  wife,  Queen  Philippa  of  Hainault,  made  a 
long  stay  in  the  house  of  Artevelde,  concluded  an  alliance 
with  Ludwig  of  Bavaria,  and  went  back  to  England  to 
collect  his  forces.  The  French  fleet,  together  with  some 
vessels  hired  from  the  Genoese,  were  drawn  up  in  great 
force  before  Helvoetsluys,  to  prevent  his  landing  ;  and  here 
Edward  in  person  gained  the  first  great  English  naval  vic- 
tory, killed  both  the  French  commanders,  sunk  their  ships, 
and  safely  effected  his  landing.  After  this  he  took  the  title 
of  King  of  France,  and  called  Philippe  only  the  Count  of 
Valois,  but  he  consented,  at  the  entreaty  of  his  wife's 
mother,  sister  of  the  King  of  France,  to  conclude  a  peace 
for  six  months. 

Just  at  this  time  the  Duke  of  Brittany  died,  leaving  the 
succession  disputed  between  Jeanne,  daughter  of  his  second 
brother,  and  wife  of  Charles  de  Blois,  and  Jean,  Count  de 
Montfort,  his  youngest  brother.  The  Bretons  and  the 
court  of  France  were  inclined  to  the  cause  of  Jeanne,  but 
Montfort  took  up  arms,  promising  Edward  III.  to  acknow- 
ledge him  as  king  of  France,  if  he  would  give  him  his  sup- 
port. A  war  commenced,  Nantes  was  taken  by  Charles  de 
Blois,  Montfort  was  made  prisoner,  but  his  wife,  Jeanne,  a 
gallant  lady,  still  maintained  his  cause.  She  shut  herself 
up  in  the  town  of  Hennebonne,  and  showing  the  people  her 
infant  son,  called  on  them  to  fight  for  him.  She  herself 
wore  armor,  and  led  her  followers  to  attack  the  camp  of 
the  besiegers,  but  famine  pressed  her  little  garrison,  and 
they  told  her  it  was  impossible  to  hold  out  any  longer,  and 
they  should  carry  the  keys  to  Charles  de  Blois  in  a  quarter 
of  an  hour. 

The  countess  looked  toward  the  castle  window  at  the  sea, 
and  to  her  joy  she  saw  what  she  had  so  long  hoped  for,  the 
English  fleet  bearing  down  on  the  coast.  ^'  Here  is  our 
safety  !"  she  cried,  and  soon  a  strong  body  of  English,  un- 
der the  command  of  Sir  Walter  Mautiy,  a  gentleman  of 
Hainault,  esteemed  the  best  knight  in  Europe,  was  entering 
the  town.  Tliey  soon  forced  the  enemy  to  raise  the  siege, 
and  from  that  time  Montfort's  party  prospered.  The  King 
of  France,  and  liis  son  Jean,  were  so  violent  and  cruel,  as 


WAKS    OF    EDWARD    III.    AND    PHILIPPE    VI.  135 

to  turn  the  minds  of  the  Bretons  against  Charles  de  Blois, 
and  Montfort  made  his  escape  from  prison,  and  came  to  do 
homage  to  Edward  III.,  but  he  died  at  Hennebonne,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  sufferings  he  had  undergone  in  his  captivity, 
and  Jeanne  was  again  left  to  support  the  rights  of  her  son. 

About  the  same  time  Jacob  von  Artevelde  was  murdered, 
and  Edward  lost  the  assistance  of  Flanders,  but,  undaunted, 
he  assembled  a  considerable  anny,  and  entered  France. 

Philippe  himself  marched  to  oppose  him,  taking  with  him 
King  Johann  of  Bohemia,  who,  though  he  had  lost  his  eye- 
sight, could  not  bear  to  be  absent  from  the  battle.  All  the 
chivalry  of  France  were  with  him,  and  a  body  of  Genoese 
archers,  altogether  far  outnumbering  the  English  army. 
The  battle  took  place  at  Creci,  in  Ponthieu.  The  day  had 
been  wet,  and  the  bow-strings  of  the  Genoese  were  so 
relaxed  that  they  were  of  no  service.  "  Kill  these  cowards  !" 
fiercely  cried  the  French  king,  "  they  only  stop  the  way !" 

While  the  French  were  employed  in  massacring  their 
own  allies,  the  galhmt  troop  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  fell 
upon  them,  and  their  danger  was  extreme.  It  was  reported 
to  Johann  of  Bohemia.  "  For  the  love  of  heaven,"  he  ex- 
claimed to  his  attendants,  "  lead  me  where  I  may  strike 
but  one  good  stroke !"  Two  of  his  knights  fastened  his 
horse's  rein  to  theirs,  and  they  all  rushed  into  the  thickest 
of  the  fight,  where  Johann  died  as  he  had  lived — fighting 
— for  the  mere  love  of  battle,  in  a  cause  with  which  he  had 
not  the  least  concern. 

His  son,  Charles  of  Luxemburg,  fled  early  in  the  day. 
Philippe  VI.  also  fled,  and  arriving  almost  alone,  late  at 
night,  before  a  castle,  drew  his  bridle,  and  knocked  at  the 
gate.  "  Open,  open !"  he  cried,  "  for  here  are  the  fortunes 
of  France." 

The  siege  of  Calais  immediately  followed  the  battle  of 
Creci,  and  at  the  same  time  Charles  de  Blois  was  made 
prisoner  in  Brittany,  by  Sir  Thomas  Dagworth.  His  wife, 
the  Countess  of  Penthievre,  was  as  brave  and  resolute  as 
Jeanne  de  Montfort,  but  both  parties  were  for  the  time 
weary  of  the  war,  and  a  truce  was  concluded  between  the 
Kinoes  of  Entrland  and  France,  as  well  as  between  the  two 
countesses. 


136  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [ciIAP.  IX. 

Just  at  this  time  died  Humbert,  Lord  of  Yienne,  called 
the  Dauphin,  from  the  dolphin  which  he  bore  in  his  coat  of 
arms.  He  left  his  dominions  to  Charles,  eldest  son  of 
Prince  Jean,  and  from  that  time  the  eldest  son  of  the 
French  king  always  bore  the  title  of  Dauphin  of  Vienne. 

Bonne,  the  wife  of  Jean,  was  just  dead,  and  he  was  to  be 
married  to  Blanche,  daughter  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  a 
beautiful  girl  of  eighteen ;  but  the  king,  his  father,  fell  in 
love  with  her,  married  her  himself,  and  then  gave  himself 
up  to  such  feasts  and  excesses,  in  honor  of  the  marriage, 
that  he  brought  on  an  illness,  and  died  on  the  22d  of 
August,  1350. 

Three  years  before,  Charles  of  Luxemburg  had  been 
chosen  emperor  in  the  stead  of  Ludwig  of  Bavaria,  who 
died  in  1347. 

PART   VII.       JEAN    OF   FRANCE.       1357-1360. 

In  manners,  and  in  some  of  his  sentiments,  the  new  king, 
Jean,  of  France,  was  very  chivalrous,  and  he  showed  a 
high  sense  of  honor  in  his  dealings  with  Edward  III.,  the 
Black  Prince,  and  men  of  the  same  noble  stamp ;  but  in  his 
own  country,  and  in  his  transactions  with  traitors,  he  often 
had  recourse  to  a  degree  of  cruelty  and  treachery,  which 
suited  ill  with  other  parts  of  his  character.  Charles,  King 
of  Navarre,  called  the  Bad,  had  provoked  him  extremely, 
by  assassinating  one  of  his  friends.  Jean  did  not  at  first 
appear  to  resent  the  crime,  but  some  time  after,  when 
Charles  was  dining  with  his  son  the  Dauphin,  he  suddenly 
arrested  him,  and  threw  him  into  prison.  The  injury  was 
never  forgotten,  and  Charles  of  Navarre  not  only  became 
an  ally  of  the  English,  but  attempted  to  poison  the  Dau- 
phin ;  and  though  the  prince  was  saved  by  antidotes,  he 
never  entirely  recovered  the  effects  of  the  dose. 

Edward  III.  offered  to  make  peace,  on  condition  of  re- 
ceiving the  dukedom  of  Aquitaine  as  his  own,  instead  of  as 
a  feudal  tenure ;  but  Jean  indignantly  refused,  and  Edward, 
Prince  of  Wales,  entered  France  on  the  western  coast.  His 
force  was  small,  and  Jean  with  his  three  sons,  and  an  im- 
mense body  of  nobles,  marclied  to  oppose  him,  expecting 


JEA?^^    OF    FRANCE.  137 

easily  to  overwhelm  him.  They  met  at  Poitiers,  and  as^ain 
the  French  were  totally  routed;  the  two  elder  sons  of  Jean 
soon  fled,  but  he  defended  himself  for  a  long  time  with  his 
battle-axe,  while  his  youngest  son,  Philippe,  who  was  only 
fifteen,  stood  close  beside  him,  his  eyes  only  fixed  upon 
him,  crying  out,  "  Father,  take  care  !  to  the  right !  to  the 
left !"  as  he  saw  the  enemies  direct  their  blows.  At  last 
Jean  was  obliged  to  surrender,  and  was  brought  with  his 
son  to  the  tent  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  where  the  courtesy 
with  which  he  was  treated  won  for  Edward  the  chief  grace 
of  his  renown. 

Jean,  after  being  taken  to  London,  was  released,  on  con- 
dition of  his  giving  up  his  sons  as  hostages  for  the  payment 
of  his  ransom :  but  France  was  in  no  condition  to  raise  the 
requisite  sum ;  the  long  war  had  exhausted  its  treasures, 
and  the  misconduct  of  the  later  kings  had  weakened  the 
affections  of  their  nobles.  The  barons,  too,  had  a  war  of 
their  own  to  maintain,  with  the  peasants,  or,  as  they  were 
pleased  to  call  that  class,  "Jacques  Bonhomme."  They 
had  stretched  their  feudal  rights  so  far,  and  so  oppressively, 
that  the  peasants  had  learnt  to  hate  them ;  and  when  the 
harvests  were  trodden  down  by  the  enemy,  the  taxes  re- 
doubled, and  the  farms  and  cottages  pillaged,  the  unhappy 
serfs  rose  in  fury  against  all  their  superiors  alike.  This 
rebellion  was  called  the  Jacquerie.  They  overpowered  all 
the  knights  and  squires  by  force  of  numbers,  pillaged  their 
castles,  and  murdered  all  that  fell  into  their  hands.  At 
last  things  came  to  such  a  pass,  that  the  Captal*  de  Buch, 
a  Gascon  subject  of  Edward  III.,  and  a  great  friend  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  found  the  Dauphin  Charles,  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Orleans,  and  three  hundred  noble  ladies,  all 
besieged  in  the  market-place  of  Meaux,  by  the  towns- 
people and  a  raging  peasantry,  who  longed  to  put  them  all 
to  death. 

,  The  Captal,  though  their  enemy,  w^as  too  good  a  knight 
not  to  give  them  his  assistance,  and  with  sixty  lances  (one 
hundred  and  eighty  men)  under  his  command,  he  attacked 
the  Jacquerie,  dispersed  them  entirely,  killed  a  great  many, 

*  A  Proven9al  title,  meaning  head  or  chief,  taken  from  the  same  word  aa 
captain. 


138  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.   IX. 

and  rescued  the  Dauphin  and  the  ladies.  His  victory  dis- 
couraged the  peasants,  and  the  gentlemen  once  more 
uniting,  succeeded  in  putting  down  the  Jacquerie,  though 
not  without  such  dreadful  cruelties,  that  it  is  said  the  Isle 
of  France  was  left  desolate  of  inhabitants. 

In  such  a  state  of  things  it  was  impossible  to  raise  money 
for  the  ransom,  and  Jean,  therefore,  honorable  toward  a 
generous  foe,  went  back  to  England,  and  died  there  in  1364. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Charles  V.,  called  Le  Sage. 

In  the  mean  time,  Jean  de  Montfort,  son  of  the  gallant 
Jeanne,  had  grown  up  to  an  age  at  which  he  could  assert 
his  own  rights,  and  at  the  head  of  an  army  composed 
chiefly  of  English,  with  the  brave  old  captain.  Sir  John 
Chandos,  at  their  head,  and  with  a  few  Bretons,  the  chief  of 
whom  was  his  friend,  Olivier  de  Clisson,  he  invaded  Brit- 
tany. Charles  de  Blois,  who  had  been  ransomed  at  the 
time  of  the  truce,  came  to  meet  him  at  Auray,  with  the 
whole  strength  of  the  duchy,  and  with  Bertrand  du  Gue- 
sclin,  the  bravest  knight  and  the  best  general,  next  to  the 
Prince  of  Wales  and  Sir  John  Chandos,  then  in  Europe. 
Du  Guesclin  was  a  Breton  gentleman,  short  in  stature,  with 
features  remarkably  plain,  and  manners  rough  and  abrupt ; 
but  scarcely  any  one  equalled  him  in  personal  prowess, 
in  courage,  or  in  conduct.  At  fifteen  he  had  gone  in  dis- 
guise to  a  tournament,  and  had  overcome  every  knight 
there  excepting  his  father,  against  whom  he  would  not  fight, 
and  he  had  ever  since  been  the  foremost  in  the  war  against 
the  English  in  Brittany. 

The  evening  before  the  battle  of  Auray,  a  favorite  dog  of 
Charles  de  Blois  came  into  the  English  camp,  and  leapt 
and  fawned  upon  Montfort.  It  was  thought  that  the  crea- 
ture was  a  time-server,  and  knew  that  fortune  was  going  to 
depart  from  its  former  master.  English  valor,  as  usual, 
gained  the  victory ;  Charles  de  Blois  was  killed,  and  Du 
Guesclin  made  prisoner ;  Montfort  was  brought  to  Rennes, 
and  received  the  homage  of  all  Brittany,  even  of  the 
Countess  of  Penthi^vre  herself,  and  of  Bertrand  du  Gue- 
sclin. A  general  peace  was  soon  after  made  between  Eng- 
land and  France,  and  the  dukedom  of  Aquitaine  was  ceded 
to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  there  kept  a  brilliant  court. 


STATE    OF    ITALY.  139 

PART  YIII.       STATE  OF  ITALY.       1340-1381. 

While  this  was  passing  in  France,  Italy  was  in  a  scarcely- 
less  disturbed  condition,  torn  to  pieces  by  perpetual  wars 
between  the  Guelf  and  Ghibelline  parties,  or  as  this  now 
signified,  between  the  republics  of  Tuscany  and  the  tyrants 
of  Lombardy.  Giovanni  Visconti,  Archbishop  of  Milan, 
the  last  surviving  son  of  Matteo,  was  for  some  time  the 
head  of  the  Ghibellines.  When  excommunicated  by  the 
Pope,  he  drew  his  sword,  and  holding  it  in  one  hand,  and 
his  pastoral  staff  in  the  other,  he  swore  that  he  would  use 
the  one  to  defend  the  other ;  and  when  summoned  to  Avi- 
gnon to  answer  for  his  misdemeanors,  he  sent  a  purveyor 
before  him  to  provide  lodgings  for  20,000  men,  which  so 
alarmed  Pope  Clement  VI.,  that  he  wrote  to  beg  him  not 
to  take  the  trouble  of  coming,  and  reconciled  him  to  the 
Church. 

Giovanni  died  in  1354,  leaving  his  power  to  his  nephews, 
Bernabos  and  Galeazzo,  two  of  the  most  wicked  and  cruel 
tyrants  who  ever  reigned,  especially  Bernabos,  who  made 
a  horrible  massacre  of  the  inhabitants  of  Pavia,  torturing 
them  for  forty  days  before  he  allowed  the  death-blow  to  be 
given.  He  was  as  cowardly  as  such  wicked  men  usually 
are  ;  and  when  the  plague  was  at  Milan,  he  fled  away  into 
a  wood,  set  up  gibbets  for  miles  round,  with  notices  that 
whoever  passed  them  should  be  executed,  and  was  not 
heard  of  for  so  long,  that  it  was  supposed  that  he  was  dead. 
Galeazzo  was  very  rich,  and  succeeded,  by  means  of  im- 
mense dowries,  in  persuading  King  Jean  of  France  to  give 
the  princess  Isabelle  in  marriage  to  his  son  Giovanni 
Galeazzo;  and  Lionel,  Duke  of  Clarence,  second  son  of 
Edward  III.,  to  marry  his  daughter  Violante. 

The  republic  of  Florence  was  the  best  and  most  prosper- 
ous State  then  in  Italy,  steady  in  its  resistance  to  these 
usurpers,  and  through  good  and  evil  fortune,  firm  in  honor- 
ably upholding  the  laws  and  constitution,  which  had  now 
existed  for  four  hundred  years.  Whenever  a  town  was 
oppressed,  help  in  men  and  money  was  sent  from  Florence ; 
and  the  only  thing  to  be  regretted  was,  that  the  Florentines 
were  not  soldiers  enough  to  fight  for  themselves,  or  even 


140  LAXD5IAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [ciIAP.  IX. 

lead  their  own  armies  of  hired  soldiers,  sometimes  Ger- 
mans, and  sometimes  French  and  English,  disbanded  from 
the  armies  of  the  Kings  Jean  and  Edward  at  the  peace. 
The  leaders,  or  as  the  Italians  termed  them,  the  Con- 
dottiere,  of  these  companies,  were  generally  some  of  the 
worthless  Lombard  or  Romagnol  nobles,  whom  a  bribe 
would  often  induce  to  betray  the  cause  in  which  they  were 
fighting.  The  German  and  French  bands  were  also  horri- 
bly treacherous  and  cruel ;  and  the  most  respectable  com- 
pany was  the  English  one,  led  by  Sir  John  Hawkwood, 
who,  though  unmerciful  and  violent,  had  at  least  some 
sense  of  honor,  and  always  fulfilled  his  engagements. 

The  free,  openhanded  generosity  of  the  Florentines, 
should  be  recorded.  During  a  dreadful  famine  which 
raged  in  Tuscany  for  two  years,  1346  and  1347,  the  gov- 
ernment obtained  corn,  at  a  prodigious  expense,  from  the 
whole  coast  of  Africa,  and  not  only  fed  all  their  own  poor, 
but  all  those  from  other  States,  all  the  mendicant  friars, 
the  beggars,  the  peasants,  and  distressed  persons  who 
chose  to  come  and  ask  aid,  and  who  of  course  were  in  im- 
mense numbers,  since  no  other  city  had  either  the  will  or 
the  power  to  relieve  them. 

A  curious  revolution  took  place  at  Rome  in  the  year 
1347.  Nicola,  or  as  he  was  more  usually  called,  Cola  di 
Rienzi,  a  man  of  the  lower  rank,  but  deeply  learned,  and  a 
great  friend  of  Petrarch,  threw  himself  into  the  study  of 
the  newly-discovered  works  of  antiquity,  more  especially 
of  those  which  related  to  Roman  grandeur.  At  last  his 
whole  mind  became  possessed  with  the  idea  of  the  power 
of  the  Roman  people,  who  had  chosen  emperors  and  given 
laws  to  all  the  rest  of  the  world. 

He  caused  an  allegorical  picture  to  be  painted,  repre- 
senting Rome  as  a  woman  kneeling  in  a  ship,  with  her 
hands  bound,  while  the  vessel,  without  mast  or  rudder, 
drifted  on  a  stormy  sea,  amid  the  wi'ecks  of  four  others, 
bearing  the  names  of  Jerusalem,  Troy,  Babylon,  and 
Carthage,  while  above  them  was  written,  "  Iniquity  was 
their  ruin."  He  displayed  this  picture  at  the  Capitol,  when 
the  concourse  of  the  Romans  was  greatest,  and  with  burn- 
ing  eloquence,  such  as  few  men  possessed  in   an   equal 


STATE    OF    ITALY.  141 

degree,  he  explained  its  meaning,  calling  on  the  Romans  to  be, 
what  they  once  had  been,  the  rulers  of  the  world.  Soon  after 
he  set  up  a  notice  near  the  door  of  one  of  the  churches,  "  In  a 
few  days  the  Romans  will  return  to  their  former  good  state." 

He  collected  the  people  on  the  Aventine  hill,  and  so 
worked  upon  their  minds,  by  being  perfectly  in  earnest 
himself,  that  they  elected  him  their  tribune,  which  office, 
as  he  considered,  united  all  their  powers.  Every  one  was 
taken  by  surprise  at  first,  and  obeyed  him  implicitly — the 
papal  legate,  the  nobles  and  all ;  he  sent  messages  about, 
carrying  his  commands  to  the  cities  of  Italy ;  he  ordered 
the  Pope  to  come  back  to  his  flock,  and  for  a  few  months 
was  the  first  man  in  Italy.  The  nobles  of  Rome,  especially 
the  Colonne,  soon  quarrelled  with  him,  and  were  expelled 
from  the  city ;  they  tried  to  besiege  it,  but  it  seems  that  all 
the  Romans  had  lost  their  courage ;  and  nothing  could  be 
more  absurd  than  the  cowardice  shown  by  the  Colonne  on 
one  side,  and  the  populace  on  the  other.  At  last  two  of 
the  Colonne  fell  into  their  hands,  and  were  killed  by  force 
of  numbers,  and  this  was  considered  as  a  great  victory. 
Rienzi's  head  was  turned  by  his  elevation ;  he  affected  the 
most  foolish  state  and  pomp,  perfectly  inconsistent  with 
his  character  as  plebeian  tribune.  lie  bathed  in  a  large  shell 
of  porphyry,  where,  according  to  a  legend,  Constantine  the 
Great  had  been  cured  of  leprosy  by  Pope  Sylvester ;  then 
watched  his  armor  all  night  in  the  Church  of  St.  John  Lat- 
eran,  and  was  knighted  the  next  morning,  after  which  he  drew 
his  sword,  and  waving  it  towards  each  of  the  three  quarters 
of  the  world,  cried,  "  This  is  ours,  this  is  ours,  this  is  ours  !" 

The  nobles  again  rallied,  and  besieged  the  town,  and  Cola 
sounded  the  tocsin  to  call  the  people  out  against  them.  But 
every  one  was  tired  of  him  and  of  his  vanity :  no  one 
stirred  at  his  command,  and  at  last  he  was  obliged  to  go 
and  lay  aside  the  marks  of  his  authority  as  tribune,  and 
leave  Rome  as  quietly  as  he  could. 

Six  years  after.  Pope  Innocent  VI.  sent  the  Spanish 
Cardinal  Albornoz  as  his  legate  to  Rome,  with  orders  to 
re-establish  his  authority  there,  and  to  extend  it  over 
Romagna  and  the  rest  of  the  inheritance  of  the  Church, 
which,  though  Rudolf  of  Hapsburg  had  formally  ceded 


Ii2  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.   IX. 

it,  had  never  really  been  under  the  power  of  the  Holy  See, 
but  was,  like  the  rest  of  Italy,  divided  between  republics 
and  tyrants.  Albornoz,  thinking  Kienzi  might  be  useful  to 
him,  brought  him  back  to  Rome,  and  he  was  at  first  gladly 
received  there,  and  restored  to  his  office  as  tribune.  But  he 
had  not  learnt  wisdom  by  his  exile  :  he  soon  oifended  the 
Romans  again ;  they  set  lire  to  his  house,  seized  him  as  he 
was  trying  to  escape,  and  killed  him  in  front  of  the  capitol. 
Cardinal  Albornoz  was  a  great  warrior  and  statesman, 
and  succeeded  in  reducing  to  obedience  all  the  States  of 
the  Church.  When  the  Pope  asked  him  for  an  account  of 
the  money  he  had  expended,  his  answer  was  to  present  to 
him  a  wagon  loaded  with  the  keys  of  the  conquered  towns. 
After  his  conquests,  the  Popes  began  to  think  of  returning 
to  Rome.  Petrarch  was  always  exhorting  them  to  do  so ; 
and  the  present  disturbed  state  of  France  rendered 
Avignon  no  longer  a  secure  residence ;  but  the  cardinals, 
almost  all  of  whom  were  French,  were  extremely  unwilling 
to  remove.  The  papal  court  had,  since  its  removal  to 
Avignon,  fallen  into  a  fearfully  corrupt  state;  the  town 
w^as  one  scene  of  vice  and  luxury,  inhabited  by  a  race  of 
profligate  clergy,  and  by  all  the  worst  intriguers  of  France 
and  Italy ;  and  there  was  great  unwillingness  to  leave  it, 
on  the  part  of  those  who  loved  to  hide  their  iniquities  in 
this  petty  town.  However,  Pope  Urban  V.,  a  really  good 
and  honest  man,  came  to  Rome  for  some  time,  and  only  re- 
turned because  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  try  to  make  peace 
between  the  Kings  of  England  and  France ;  and  his  suc- 
cessor, Gregory  XL,  actually  took  up  his  abode  at  Rome, 
with  his  whole  court,  all  but  six  cardinals,  who  obstinately 
refused  to  leave  Avignon. 

PART   IX.       GIOVANNA    OF    NAPLES.       1343-1381. 

The  kingdom  of  Naples  was,  in  the  mean  time,  in  a  worse 
condition  than  any  other  part  of  Italy.  Robert,  King  of 
Naples,  lost  his  only  son,  who  left  two  infant  daughters, 
Giovanna  and  Maria,  the  elder  of  whom  Robert  gave  in 
marriage  to  Andrea,  the  second  son  of  his  nephew,  the 
King  o"f  Hungary.  Robert  died  in  1343,  just  as  his  grand- 
daughter and  her  husband  were  grown  up,  leaving  it  in 


GIOVANNA    OF    NAPLES.  143 

his  will  that  Giovanna  should  reign  in  her  own  right,  and 
her  husband,  though  called  king,  should  have  no  part  in 
the  government. 

Andrea  was  discontented,  and  discourteous  to  his  wife, 
and  Giovanna  had  set  her  aft'ections  upon  Luigi,  Prince  of 
Tarento,  her  cousin,  son  of  a  younger  brother  of  Robert. 
A  plot  was  formed  against  Andrea  by  her  chief  confidants, 
and  in  which  there  is  no  doubt  that  she  had  a  part. 
Andrea  was  called  out  of  her  room,  as  if  on  business,  in 
the  middle  of  the  night,  and  on  leaving  it,  was  surrounded 
with  murderers,  who  killed  him,  and  threw  him  out  of  the 
window.  The  queen  immediately  married  Luigi,  Prince  of 
Tarento. 

Louis,  King  of  Hungary,  brother  of  the  murdered 
Andrea,  was  a  powerful  and  able  prince,  and  thought  only 
of  revenge.  He  collected  his  forces,  and  marching  into 
Apulia,  advanced  so  quickly  that  Giovanna  and  Luigi  were 
obliged  to  fly,  and  betook  themselves  to  her  county  of 
Provence.  Carlo,  Prince  of  Durazzo,  son  of  anothei 
brother  of  King  Kobert,  and  husband  to  Giovanna's  sistei 
Maria,  was  among  the  first  to  join  Louis  on  his  arrival  in 
Naples,  and  accompanied  him  when  he  went  to  see  the 
spot  where  Andrea  had  been  killed,  being,  as  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe,  perfectly  innocent  of  all  participation  in 
the  crime.  While  standing  at  the  fatal  window,  a  sudden 
transport  of  rage  seemed  to  seize  on  Louis ;  he  caught 
Carlo  by  the  throat,  and  crying  out,  "  Die,  as  you  slew 
him,"  he  gave  the  word  to  the  Hungarians,  who  slew  the 
unfortunate  prince,  and  threw  him  from  the  window. 

Louis  appealed  to  the  court  of  Avignon  for  justice  on 
Giovanna,  and  the  Pope  could  not  refuse  to  hear  the  cause ; 
but  though  the  proofs  were  complete,  Clement  VI.  was  so 
much  resolved  not  to  find  her  guilty,  that  he  declared  that 
the  queen  had  been  under  the  influence  of  witchcraft ! 

Louis  soon  after  returned  to  his  own  kingdom,  and  dis- 
tinguished himself  greatly  in  wars  with  the  Venetians.  He 
was  on  the  whole  a  good  and  great  man,  who  raised  the 
Hungarians  from  a  state  of  barbarism,  and  did  them  much 
good  in  his  reign  of  forty  years,  unstained  with  any  crime, 
excepting  the  death  of  Carlo  of  Durazzo. 


144  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [ciIAP.  IX. 

As  to  Giovanna,  she  returned  again  to  ISTaples,  where 
she  reigned  altogether  thirty-four  years,  given  up  to  hixu- 
ry,  and  not  taking  any  care  of  the  government.  She  had, 
in  all,  four  husbands,  but  she  never  had  any  children,  ex- 
cept one  son  by  Andrea,  who  died  young.  Louis  of  Hun- 
gary, who  had  no  surviving  son,  brought  up,  as  the  heir  of 
Naples,  Carlo,  the  grandson  of  that  Carlo  whom  he  had 
murdered,  and  the  only  remaining  prince  of  the  royal  line 
of  Anjou,  and  in  1381  gave  him  an  army,  and  sent  him  to 
attack  Giovanna.  She  adopted,  as  her  son,  Louis,  Count 
of  Anjou,  brother  of  Charles  V.  of  France,  hoping  that  he 
would  come  to  her  rescue,  but  he  did  not  arrive  in  time, 
and  Carlo  soon  overran  her  kingdom,  and  making  her 
prisoner,  shut  her  up  in  the  Castle  of  Muro,  where,  a  short 
time  after,  he  caused  her  to  be  siriothered  with  a  feather 
bed.  Her  adopted  son,  Louis  of  Anjou,  took  possession 
of  her  county  of  Provence,  and  Carlo  became  King  of 
Naples. 

PART  X.   PEDRO  THE  CRUEL.   1350-1368. 

The  four  peninsular  kingdoms  were  little  better  off  than 
the  rest  of  Europe,  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
as  is  sufficiently  testified  by  the  surnames  of  some  of  the 
kings :  Pedro  el  Ceremonioso,  of  Aragon,  was  the  best ; 
but  the  others  were  Charles  the  Bad  of  Navarre,  Pedro 
the  Severe  of  Portugal,  and  Pedro  the  Cruel  of  Castile. 

Pedro  the  Severe  had  perhaps  the  most  excuse.  When 
prince  he  had  fallen  in  love  with  one  of  his  wife's  ladies, 
the  beautiful  Ines  de  Castro,  and  on  his  wife's  death  he 
secretly  married  her.  His  father,  Affonso  IV.,  was  ex- 
tremely displeased  on  the  discovery  of  the  marriage,  and 
while  Pedro  was  absent  on  a  hunting  expedition,  went  to 
Coimbra,  where  Ines  had  been  left,  and  in  spite  of  her 
tears  and  entreaties,  caused  his  attendants  to  murder  her. 
Her  beauty  and  grace  had  made  a  great  impression  on  the 
people  of  Coimbra ;  they  never  forgot  her ;  and  the  foun- 
tain where  she  was  slain  is  still  called  the  Fountain  of 
Tears. 

Never,  indeed,  was  woman  so  mourned  as  Ines  de  Castro. 


PEDKO   TlIE    CRUEL.  145 

Her  husband's  mind  was  so  unsettled  by  rage  and  grief, 
that  it  never  recovered  its  balance ;  he  at  first  rebelled 
against  his  father,  but  was  soon  persuaded  by  his  mother 
to  make  peace,  and  perhaps  he  forgave,  when  in  a  few  weeks 
AfFonso  died  of  remorse  for  the  crime. 

When  Pedro  was  King  of  Portugal  he  resolved  to  do 
the  justice  to  his  murdered  wife  that  she  had  never  received 
hi  her  life.  He  assembled  the  States  of  his  kingdom,  and 
swore  in  their  presence  that  she  was  his  true  and  lawful 
spouse,  and  queen ;  and  then  he  caused  her  corpse  to  be 
raised  from  its  tomb,  arrayed  in  royal  robes,  and  with  the 
crown  upon  its  head,  it  was  seated  on  a  throne,  while  he 
required  all  his  nobles  to  do  it  homage,  as  they  would  have 
done  to  the  living  Ines.  It  was  then  placed  in  a  splendid 
tomb  beside  that  which  he  had  prepared  for  himself. 

Pedro  the  Cruel,  of  Castile,  had  been  brought  up  in  sen- 
timents of  hatred  and  revenge  by  his  mother,  Maria  of 
Portugal,  who  was  neglected  by  her  husband,  Alfonso  XL, 
for  the  sake  of  a  lady  named  Leonor  de  Guzman.  Ven- 
geance upon  Leonor  and  her  seven  sons  was  the  ruling  idea 
of  Queen  Maria,  and  she  so  succeeded  in  imparting  it  to 
her  son,  that  it,  together  with  his  natural  temper,  made 
him  more  like  a  fiend  than  any  other  prince  mentioned  in 
Christian  history.  Alfonso  died  in  1350,  and  the  first  act 
of  Pedro,  who  was  then  only  fifteen,  was  to  cause  Leonor 
de  Guzman  to  be  put  to  death. 

From  that  time  his  cruelties  grew  worse  and  worse.  His 
mother  wished  him  to  marry  Blanche,  a  daughter  of  the 
Duke  de  Bourbon,  but  before  she  could  arrive  from  France, 
he  had  fallen  in  love  with  Dona  Maria  de  Padilla,  and 
when  poor  Blanche  was  brought  to  him,  he  threw  her  into 
prison,  and  at  the  end  of  a  year  or  two  put  her  to  death. 
He  poisoned  his  aunt  for  expressing  pity  for  Blanche  ;  but 
it  was  against  his  half-brothers,  the  sons  of  Leonor,  that  his 
hatred  was  greatest.  Fadrique,  the  Grand-Master  of  the 
Order  of  Santiago,  and  Enrique,  Count  of  Trastamare,  the 
two  eldest,  were  twins,  and  noted  for  their  nobleness  and 
high  chivalrous  accomplishments. 

Don  Fadrique,  in  especial,  had  served  the  king  gallantly 
in  a  war  against  Aragon,  but  nothing  could  lessen  his  ha- 

7 


146  LANDMAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CIIAP.  IX. 

tred.  He  invited  Fadrique,  with  several  of  his  knights,  to 
Seville,  to  a  conference,  and  there  caused  him,  as  he  was 
about  to  depart,  to  be  surrounded  with  armed  men,  and 
massacred,  with  his  followers — Pedro  himself,  Maria  de 
Padilla,  and  their  children,  looking  on. 

Enrique  and  his  brothers,  Tello  and  Sancho,  made  their 
escape  from  Castile,  whereupon  the  king  murdered  all  the 
remaining  brothers  ;  but  his  cruelties  had  gone  so  far  that 
his  subjects  could  endure  them  no  longer,  and  rose  in  rebel- 
lion, sending  to  invite  Enrique  of  Trastamare  to  be  their 
king.  Enrique  willingly  obeyed  the  summons,  collecting 
for  his  support  all  the  Free  Companies  of  French  and  Eng- 
lish soldiers,  then  dispersed  through  France,  who  were  only 
too  glad  to  be  employed  in  a  new  war. 

Pedro  was  obliged  to  fly,  and  coming  to  Bordeaux,  en- 
treated the  aid  of  the  Black  Prince.  Edward,  considering 
that  his  was  the  cause  of  the  legitimate  sovereign,  promised 
his  aid,  recalled  all  the  English  who  were  serving  under 
Enrique,  and  set  out  to  conduct  Pedro  back  to  Castile. 
Enrique,  with  his  allies  the  French,  commanded  by  Ber- 
trand  Du  Guescliji,  and  with  all  the  Castilians,  met  him  at 
Najara,  or  Navarretta,  and  suffered  a  total  rout ;  the  Cas- 
tilians fled  at  the  first  onset,  and  th^  French,  though  fighting 
gallantly,  could  not  retrieve  the  day.  Du  Guesclin  was 
made  prisoner  while  protecting  the  escape  of  Enrique,  who 
swam  his  horse  across  the  river  Zadorra,  and  hid  himself 
among  the  Pyrenees.  There  were  few  lives  lost  in  this 
battle ;  only  four  knights  were  killed  on  the  English  side, 
but  it  was  with  some  difliculty  that  the  Prince  of  Wales 
could  prevent  Pedro  from  killing  all  his  prisoners  with  his 
own  hand.  Pedro  was  restored  to  his  throne,  and  promised 
great  rewards  to  the  English ;  but  after  waiting  for  them  in 
vain  through  the  whole  summer  in  the  unhealthy  climate  of 
Valladolid,  Edward,  who  had  in  the  mean  time  become 
afiected  with  the  disease  which  at  last  proved  fatal,  grew 
weary  of  the  perfidy  of  his  ally,  and  returned  to  Bordeaux, 
taking  Du  Guesclin  with  him. 

Enrique  of  Trastamare  came  to  Bordeaux  in  the  disguise 
of  a  pilgrim,  and  had  an  interview  with  Bertrand,  in  which 
the  brave  Breton  promised  that  the  cruel  murderer  should 


LOSS    OF   THE    ENGLISH    CONQUESTS   IN   FRANCE.        147 

not  long  sit  on  the  throne  were  he  but  at  liberty.  He  soon 
was  released,  for  Edward  was  too  chivalrous  to  keep  such  a 
captive  long,  and  though  he  three  times  gave  away  the 
money  collected  for  his  ransom,  to  pay  that  of  his  poorer 
and  less  renowned  friends,  the  money  was  at  last  collected. 
How  could  it  be  otherwise,  when,  from  King  Charles  V. 
down  to  the  peasant  girls  of  Brittany,  there  was  but  one 
wish — that  Du  Guesclin  should  be  free  ? 

Du  Guesclin  and  Enrique  immediately  entered  Castile, 
where  all  the  inhabitants  joined  them.  Pedro  was  without 
hope  from  the  English,  so  he  called  in  the  Moors,  and  let 
them  ravage  his  own  dominions — indeed,  the  Castilians  be- 
lieved that  he  actually  became  a  Mussulman  himself.  A 
battle  was  fought  at  Montiel,  in  which  Enrique  was  victo- 
rious ;  Pedro  shut  himself  up  in  the  castle  of  Montiel,  but 
•he  had  only  provisions  for  a  few  days,  and  in  the  middle  of 
the  night  he  was  detected  by  a  French  knight  creeping 
secretly  in  disguise  toward  his  brother's  tent.  He  was 
seized,  and  led  to  the  presence  of  Enrique,  when,  with  vio- 
lent language,  he  threw  himself  upon  him,  and  attempted  to 
stab  him  with  a  dagger.  The  two  brothers  fell  on  the 
ground  in  the  struggle,  and  rolled  over  together ;  Pedro 
was  uppermost,  and  was  raising  the  dagger  for  the  blow, 
when  Du  Guesclin  seized  him  by  the  leg,  and  Enrique,  re- 
covering himself,  stabbed  him  to  the  heart.  Thus  died,  in 
1368,  Pedro  the  Cruel,  having  crowded  a  fearful  number  of 
murders  into  a  life  of  thirty-two  years. 

Enrique  became  King  of  Castile,  and  was  the  first  of  the 
House  of  Trastamare. 

PART    XL       LOSS    OF   THE    ENGLISH   CONQUESTS    IN   FRANCE. 

1367-1380. 

Charles  Y.  of  France  was  very  unlike  most  of  the  princes 
of  his  day ;  he  had  more  intellect  and  learning,  and  less 
chivalry.  Partly  from  indolence,  and  partly  from  the  deli- 
cacy of  health  occasioned  by  the  poison  of  Charles  the 
Bad,  he  was  no  warrior,  and  had,  when  Dauphin,  been  gen- 
erally despised  as  weak  and  cowardly  ;  but  when  he  became 
king,  his  good  government,  and  the  manner  in  which  he 


148  LANDMARKS    OP    HISTORY.  [cHAP.    IX. 

delivered  his  country  from  the  ills  which  had  so  long  afflicted 
it,  won  him  general  gratitude  from  the  French. 

It  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  many  of  his  meas- 
ures were  more  worldly-wise  than  consistent  with  the  laws 
of  truth  and  honor.  The  four  victories  of  Sluys,  Creci, 
Poitiers,  and  Navarretta,  had  taught  him  that  the  French 
were  usually  defeated  by  the  English  in  open  fight,  and  he 
resolved  to  use  more  quiet  and  secret  means  of  ruining  their 
power.  He  saw  that  the  Black  Prince,  whose  health  was 
fast  declining,  did  not  make  himself  loved  and  respected  in 
Aquitaine  as  before,  and  he  took  every  occasion  of  secretly 
fomenting  every  discontent  of  his  subjects  there,  till  at  last 
the  town  of  Limoges  revolted  against  the  English,  and  Ed- 
ward, roused  from  his  sick-bed,  embittered  and  angry,  took 
such  fierce  and  cruel  vengeance  as  to  turn  the  minds  of  his 
French  vassals  still  more  against  him.  The  war  broke  out 
again,  and  was  conducted  on  the  part  of  Charles  with  far 
more  discretion  than  previously.  He  saw  the  value  of  the 
brave  Bretons,  and  inviting  Bertrand  Du  Guesclin  to  court, 
made  him  Constable  of  the  kingdom.  This  office  had  come 
down  from  the  time  of  the  Roman  emperors ;  the  name  sig- 
nified Count  of  the  Stable,  or  Master  of  the  Horse,  and  it 
gave  the  right  of  commanding  all  the  forces  of  the  realm  in 
the  absence  of  the  king.  Charles,  however,  would  only  fur- 
nish Bertrand  with  500  horse,  and  expressly  forbade  him  to 
come  to  a  pitched  battle,  desiring  him  only  to  harass  the 
English  and  cut  off*  their  supplies.  "Ah!  Sire,"  said  Du 
Guesclin,  "  would  you  have  me  see  the  enemy  pass  under  my 
beard  and  never  charge  them  ?"  But  Charles  would  not 
listen  to  his  entreaties,  and  Du  Guesclin  was  forced  to  con- 
tent himself  with  taking  single  castles,  and  cutting  off*  small 
parties  of  the  enemy,  making  many  prisoners,  by  which  he 
did  them  far  more  effectual  harm  than  he  could  ever  have 
done  in  the  open  field.  Olivier  de  Clisson  likewise  joined 
the  French  party,  and  his  brother  having  been  put  to  death 
by  some  of  the  English,  he  swore  to  have  fearful  vengeance, 
and  never  to  spare  the  life  of  an  English  prisoner.  He  killed 
so  many  that  he  acquired  the  dreadful  surname  of  the  Butcher : 
but  such  cruelty  was  not  usual ;  in  general,  prisoners  were 
treated  with  the  noble  courtesy  of  which  the  Black  Prince 


LOSS    OF   THE    ENGLISH    CONQUESTS   IN   FRANCE.        149 

had  set  the  example,  put  to  ransom,  and  allowed  to  go  on 
their  parole  to  collect  the  money.  If  unable  to  raise  it  in  a 
given  time,  they  returned  to  their  captivity,  and  a  knight 
or  squire  who  broke  this  word  of  honor  was  ever  after  looked 
upon  as  a  perjured  disgraced  man. 

Almost  all  Brittany  was  against  the  English,  who  had 
not  treated  that  country  well,  but  had  so  taxed  and  op- 
pressed the  people  that  their  exactions  have  never  been  for- 
gotten, but  the  word  Saozon,  or  Saxon,  has  become  in  the 
Breton  language  synonymous  with  enemy.  The  Duke, 
Jean  de  Montfort,  had,  however,  been  brought  up  in  Eng- 
land; he  had  married  a  daughter  of  Edward  III.,  and  was 
warmly  attached  to  his  cause.  Charles  V.  ordered  Du 
Guesclin  to  invade  his  dominions ;  the  Bretons  all  joined 
against  the  friend  of  the  Saxon,  and  Montfort  was  obliged 
to  fly  to  England.  Edward  III.  promised  to  restore  him, 
but  the  king  was  growmg  old  and  feeble,  and  the  Prince  of 
Wales  had  just  returned  from  Bordeaux  helpless  from  ill- 
ness ;  the  younger  princes  were  not  equal  in  any  respect  to 
their  brother,  and,  after  a  vain  attempt  in  his  favor,  his 
cause  seemed  hopeless.  The  two  great  Edwards  died  within 
a  year  of  each  other,  and  the  Crown  of  England  descended 
to  a  child  eleven  years  old. 

Charles  V.  proceeded  to  attach  the  dukedom  of  Brittany 
to  his  own  possessions,  and  Du  Guesclin  and  Clisson  con- 
sented ;  but  the  rest  of  the  proud  Kelts  of  Brittany,  who 
hated  the  Franks  only  less  than  the  Saxons,  were  roused  to 
assert  their  independence.  They  invited  Jean  de  Montfort 
to  return,  only  stipulating  that  he  should  give  up  his  alli- 
ance with  the  English ;  and  Jean,  who  had  now  lost  his 
English  wife,  her  father,  and  brother,  and  had  no  such  bonds 
of  affection  to  Richard  II.,  and  his  jealous,  selfish  uncles, 
accepted  their  offer,  and  returned  to  Brittany.  Du  Gue- 
sclin tried  to  reconcile  him  to  Charles,  and  when  he  could 
not  succeed,  told  the  king  sadly  that  he  had  taken  the  wings 
from  the  eagle  (his  armorial  bearing  was  an  eagle)  in  taking 
from  him  his  Bretons,  who  would  now  only  obey  the  duke. 
As  constable,  he  was  still  bound  to  the  king's  service,  and 
went  to  Guienne,  where,  while  besieging  the  Castle  of 
Chateauneuf,  he  was  taken  ill  of  a  fever.      He  sent  for  his 


150  LANDMARKS    OF   HISTORY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

companions,  and  made  them  a  beautiful  exhortation ;  then 
kissing  his  constable's  sword,  he  gave  it  to  his  friend  Clisson, 
and  desired  him  to  carry  it  to  the  king,  and  recommend 
to  him  his  wife  and  brother.  Thus  died,  at  66,  Sir  Bertrand 
du  Guesclin,  Constable  of  France  and  Castile,  and  Count 
of  Trastamare,  the  eagle  of  Brittany,  the  first  great  com- 
mander in  modern  Europe,  raised  by  his  own  merit  instead 
of  rank,  for,  though  Du  Guesclin  was  of  knightly  birth,  he 
was  a  younger  son,  and  landless. 

The  Castle  of  Chateauneuf  surrendered  the  next  day, 
but  the  English  commander  declared  that  he  would  yield 
to  no  one  but  the  constable  himself;  and  it  was  in  the  dead 
hand  of  Du  Guesclin  that  the  keys  were  laid  down.  Olivier 
de  Clisson  was  made  constable  in  his  stead,  having,  unlike 
the  other  Bretons,  adhered  to  the  king,  for  which  cause  his 
old  brother-in-arms,  Montfort,  held  him  in  bitter  hatred, 
and  still  more  when  he  gave  his  only  daughter  in  marriage 
to  the  heir  of  Charles  de  Blois  and  Jeanne  de  Penthievre. 

The  conquest  of  Chateauneuf  completed  the  driving  of  the 
English  out  of  their  newly  won  possessions  in  Aquitaine, 
and,  though  peace  was  not  formally  made,  the  war  was  at 
an  end  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  and  the  English  had  lost 
all  the  fruits  of  their  brilliant  successes,  excepting  Calais, 
when,  in  1380,  Charles  Y.  fell  sick  and  died,  leaving  two 
young  sons,  of  twelve  and  ten  years  old,  to  the  care  of 
their  uncles,  the  Dukes  of  Anjou,-  Berry,  and  Burgundy. 

The  Duke  of  Burgundy  was  that  Philippe  who  had  stood 
so  gallantly  beside  his  father  at  Poitiers.  He  had  married 
the  heiress  of  the  former  race  of  Dukes  of  Burgundy,  and 
his  successor  became  very  powerful,  and  almost  indepen- 
dent. 

The  history  of  this  time  was  written  by  Jean  Froissart, 
a  Canon  of  Chimay  in  Hainault,  an  old  chronicler,  whose 
mind  was  full  of  the  love  and  honor  of  chivalry,  and  who 
spent  his  life  in  travelling  about  to  see  gallant  deeds  of  arms 
which  he  might  record.  lie  was  in  great  favor  with  Queen 
Philippa,  the  Black  Prince,  and  Richard  II.,  as  well  as  with 
most  of  the  great  princes  of  France,  especially  Gaston, 
Count  de  Foix,  at  whose  court  he  spent  a  considerable  time. 


f    LIBRA  li  Y 

UNIYEUSi  .  Y 

CALIFOUlNlA 


X 


CHAPTER  X.. 
THE  GREAT  SCHISM.     1378-1429. 

PABT  I.      THE    POPE   AND   THE    ANTIPOPE.       1378-1398. 

Gregory  XI.  was  the  last  of  the  popes  of  Avignon ;  he, 
as  has  been  shown,  returned  again  to  Rome,  and  died  there 
in  1378.  Most  of  the  cardinals  were  French,  and  greatly- 
preferred  Avignon  for  their  abode,  and  the  Roman  populace, 
dreading  extremely  that  they  would  choose  a  pope  who 
would  return  thither,  tried  to  force  them  into  such  an  elec- 
tion as  would  retain  the  court  at  Rome.  They  surrounded 
the  conclave  with  loud  shouts  of  "  A  Roman !  a  Roman ! 
we  will  have  none  but  a  Roman !"  But  there  were  only 
two  Roman  cardinals,  and  neither  of  them  was  fit  for  the 
office,  and  the  choice,  therefore,  fell  upon  a  man  who  was 
at  least  an  Italian,  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Bari,  a  native 
of  Calabria. 

When  the  cardinals  had  made  their  choice,  they  were  so 
much  afraid  of  the  disappointed  mob,  that  they  fled,  leaving 
the  new  Pope,  Urban  VI.,  and  the  two  Roman  cardinals,  to 
inform  the  people  of  the  election,  and  it  was  not  for  some 
days  that  they  ventured  back  again  to  consecrate  and  in- 
stall the  Pope.  He  was  a  pious  and  sincere,  but  hasty 
man,  and  set  to  work  with  more  zeal  than  discretion  in  re- 
forming the  luxuries  of  the  cardinals ;  he  forbade  them  to 
have  more  than  one  dish  at  table,  and  carried  out  his 
changes  so  rudely,  as  to  offend  them  all :  his  temper,  too, 
was  ill-regulated,  and  led  to  unseemly  disputes.  He  called 
one  cardinal  a  fool,  and  openly  accused  another  of  having 
stolen  the  Church  property,  to  which  the  cardinal,  a  French 
noble,  fiercely  answered,  "  You  lie  like  a  Calabrian." 

At  last  the  cardinals  went  to  Fondi,  where  they  resolved 
to  choose  a  pope  who  would  live  at  Avignon,  and  leave 
them  to  their  pleasures.  They  pretended  to  say  that  the 
populace  of  Rome  had  so  intimidated  them  that  their 
choice  had  not  been  free,  which  was  perfectly  false,  and  that, 
therefore,  Urban  VI.  was  not  properly  elected ;  and  setting 


152  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  X. 

him  aside,  they  fixed  upon  Cardinal  Robert,  of  Geneva,  one 
of  the  worst  of  the  whole  number,  who  was  especially  re- 
markable for  having  made  such  a  cruel  massacre  of  the  in- 
habitants of  Ceseno,  that  even  the  Condottiere,  Sir  John 
Hawkwood,  refused  to  take  part  in  it.  He  took  the  name 
of  Clement,  and  he  himself,  and  all  the  French  cardinals, 
returned  to  Avignon  to  live  as  before,  while  Urban  VI., 
and  the  twenty-five  new  Italian  cardinals  whom  he  had 
created,  remained  at  Rome. 

Thus  began  the  great  schism  which  for  fifty  years  di- 
vided the  Western  Church,  and  gave  the  opportunity  for 
the  sowing  of  the  first  seeds  of  doubt  of  the  authority  of 
the  Pope. 

France  held  to  its  own  subject,  the  Antipope,  Clement, 
and  with  it  its  allies,  Spain,  Scotland,  and  the  Two  Sicilies ; 
while  the  true  Pope,  Urban  VI.,  was  acknowledged  in  Ger- 
many, England,  and  Northern  Italy.  Each  Pope  needed 
money,  and  exacted  his  revenues  more  rigorously  now  that 
they  were  diminished  by  one-half;  each  was  afraid  of 
oifending  his  own  party,  and  therefore  was  even  more  will- 
ing than  before  to  overlook  crimes,  whether  of  princes  or  of 
clergy,  and  corruptions  of  every  kind  fast  increased.  The 
bishops  were  warriors  and  statesmen — anything  but  pastors ; 
the  monasteries  forgot  their  strict  rules,  and  were  given  up 
to  ease,  if  not  to  vice,  and  the  begging  friars  were  worst  of 
all,  subject,  as  they  were,  to  no  immediate  authority,  and 
able  to  interfere  with  the  parochial  clergy.  Some  from 
ignorance,  some  from  fraud,  maintained  the  grossest  super- 
stitions, altered  and  exaggerated  the  legends  of  the  saints, 
obtained  money  by  exhibiting  false  relics ;  and  it  was  a 
practice  of  theirs  to  surround  the  bed  of  the  dying,  and  so 
to  work  on  their  conscience,  as  to  persuade  them  to  leave 
their  property  to  the  order,  instead  of  to  their  own  heirs. 

All  this  was  indeed  fearful  wickedness ;  but  it  was  hang- 
ing upon  the  Church,  it  was  not  a  part  of  her,  and  in  every 
station  there  were  true  and  pious  men,  such  as  the  uni- 
versal Church  has  brought  up  from  the  first,  proving  how 
strong  the  grace  is  within  her.  Even  in  these  times  some 
of  the  preaching  friars  were  bold  and  noble  reprovers  of 
vice  and  luxury,  and  led  whole  congregations  at  once  to 


THE    POPE    AND   THE    AXTIPOPE.  153 

throw  aside  their  pomps  and  vanities,  and  devote  them- 
selves earnestly  to  the  right.  In  the  monasteries  were  still 
devoted  men,  learning  and  laboring  on  in  rigid  self-denial. 
Nicholas  de  Lyra  wrote  his  comment  on  the  Scriptures,  and 
Thomas  a  Kempis,  in  his  convent  in  Germany,  that  beau- 
tiful book,  "  De  Imitatione  Christi,"  which  has  ever  since 
been  valued  as  one  of  the  most  precious  of  the  Church's 
stores  of  aids  to  devotion.  Among  the  bishops,  there  were 
the  saintly  Lorenzo  Justiniani,  Archbishop  of  Venice ; 
Simon  of  Sudbury,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  was 
slain  by  the  insurgents  of  Kent  for  having  tried  to  undeceive 
the  Canterbury  pilgrims  of  their  superstitious  belief  in  the 
effiacy  of  touching  the  tomb  of  St.  Thomas  k  Becket ;  and 
there  was  also  William  of  Wykeham,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, showing  how  a  prelate  might  be  a  support  to  his 
master's  throne,  and  yet  a  shepherd  of  his  own  flock.  And 
if  history,  always  more  apt  to  hand  down  the  names  of  the 
bad  than  the  good,  have  recorded  so  many,  how  many 
more  must  surely  have,  in  every  station,  lived  a  life  of  hob-  / 
ness  and  faith ! 

All  these  good  men  were  willing  to  make  the  best  of  the 
present  system,  and  were  reluctant  to  attempt  to  effect  a 
change :  but  there  were  others  of  more  zealous,  or,  perhaps, 
of  less  reverent  tempers,  who  hastily  stretched  out  their 
hands  to  alter  what  they  saw  amiss,  without  considering 
whether  it  was  their  duty  or  not. 

The  first  of  these  was  John  Wycliffe,  Vicar  of  Lutter- 
worth, who  is  called  the  Father  of  the  Reformation,  because 
he  first  began  to  preach  and  write  against  the  corruptions 
of  Rome.  His  history  belongs  to  that  of  England,  but  his 
influence  extended  to  the  continent,  especially  to  Bohemia, 
whither  his  writings  were  carried  by  Sir  John  Oldcastle, 
Lord  Cobham,  when  he  went  on  a  message  from  Richard  IL 
to  the  Emperor  Charles  IV.  They  were  eagerly  read  by 
John  Huss,  a  student  at  Prague,  and  his  friend,  Jerome 
Faulfisch,  who  proceeded  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  Wycliffe, 
adding  more  of  their  own.  They  laid  especial  stress  on 
the  unjustifiable  manner  in  which  the  laity  had  been  de- 
prived of  the  Cup  in  the  Holy  Communion,  and  with  much 
besides  that  was  perfectly  true  and  right,  they  mingled 


154  LANDMARKS    OF   HISTOEY.  [CHAP.  X. 

attacks  on  some  things  that  were  truly  Catholic.  Half 
Bohemia  followed  their  doctrines,  and  their  disciples,  both 
in  England  and  Germany,  were  called  by  the  name  of 
Lollards,  as  it  was  said,  from  the  German  word  lullen^  to 
lull,  or  sing,  from  the  tone  in  which  they  sung  the  Psalms, 
though  others  say  the  name  was  taken  from  Lollard,  a 
noxious  weed  in  cornfields. 

PART   II.      PHILIPPE   VON   AETEYELDE.       1384. 

Feance  and  England  were,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  14th 
century,  much  in  the  same  condition ;  each  had  a  young 
king,  under  the  control  of  turbulent  and  selfish  uncles, 
each  was  disturbed  by  violent  insurrections  of  the  popu- 
lace, and,  moreover,  just  as  John  of  Gaunt,  Duke  of  Lan- 
caster, was  engaged  in  an  attempt  to  conquer  Castile,  as 
the  inheritance  of  his  wife  Constance,  daughter  of  Pedro 
the  Cruel,  Louis,  Duke  of  Anjou,  the  adopted  son  of  Queen 
Giovanna,  was  striving  for  the  possession  of  the  kingdom 
of  Naples,  where  he  died  in  1384,  leaving  his  claims  to  his 
infant  son  Louis. 

Carlo  III.,  of  Durazzo,  was  reigning  at  Naples  when  his 
adopted  father,  Louis,  King  of  Hungary,  died,  leaving  only 
a  granddaughter,  named  Marie,  whom  the  Hungarians 
crowned,  not  as  queen,  but  as  king,  and  betrothed  her 
to  Sigismund  of  Luxemburg,  second  son  of  Charles  IV.,  of 
Germany.  Her  mother,  Elizabeth,  misgoverned  the  coun- 
try, and  the  Hungarians  invited  Carlo  to  return  and  reign 
over  them :  he  came,  but  soon  after  his  arrival  he  was 
treacherously  murdered  by  the  contrivance  of  Elizabeth. 
The  Hungarians  rose  and  revenged  his  death  by  killing  all 
her  accomplices,  drowning  her,  and  shutting  up  young 
King  Marie  in  a  tower,  from  which  they  did  not  release 
her  till  her  marriage  with  Sigismund. 

Carlo  left  two  young  children,  Ladislao  and  Giovanna, 
under  the  care  of  their  mother  at  Naples,  and  the  whole 
kingdom  was  for  many  years  torn  to  pieces  by  the  strug- 
gles between  the  two  parties  of  Louis  and  Ladislao,  while 
as  yet  the  boys  were  too  young  to  take  part  in  the  com- 
bat themselves. 


PHILIPPE   VON   ARTEVELDE.  155 

John  of  Gaunt  had  succeeded  little  better  in  Spahi. 
Juan  I.,  the  brave  son  of  Enrique  of  Trastamare,  so  repulsed 
him,  that  he  was  glad  to  yield  up  the  claim  by  giving 
Katherine,  the  only  child  of  Constance,  in  man^iage  to 
Enrique,  the  son  of  Juan.  He  prospered  more  in  another 
war  in  Portugal,  where,  on  the  death  of  Fernando  I.,  the 
only  son  of  Pedro  the  Severe,  by  his  first  wife,  there  was  a 
great  dispute  respecting  the  succession  between  Brites,  the 
daughter  of  Fernando,  and  wife  to  Juan  of  Castile,  and 
Joao,  the  son  of  Pedro  and  of  Ines  de  Castro. 

John  of  Gaunt  gave  his  daughter  Philippa  in  mamage 
to  Joao,  and  left  him  some  troops,  while  he  himself  re- 
turned to  England,  and  soon  after  received  the  news  that 
Joao  had  established  himself  on  his  throne  by  the  great 
victory  of  Aljubarota ;  and  so  strangely  did  the  messenger 
pronounce  the  titles  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  hidal- 
gos, that  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  declared  that  such  names 
could  never  belong  to  Christian  men.  Joao  built  the 
beautiful  monastery  of  Aljubarota,  or  Batalha,  on  the  field 
of  battle.  Perhaps  his  English  wife  had  told  him  of  the 
Battle  Abbey  of  Hasting^ 

England  was  for  a  short  time  endangered  by  the  sedition 
of  Wat  Tyler,  and  at  the  same  period  a  much  more  serious 
outbreak  took  place  in  the  great  towns  of  Flanders.  Louis, 
Count  of  Flanders,  the  son  of  that  count  who  had  quarrelled 
with  Jacob  von  Artevelde,  treated  his  Flemings  no  better 
than  his  father  had  used  them,  so  that  they  rebelled  again, 
and  took  the  party  name  of  Whitehoods ;  the  count  besieged 
Ghent,  and  reduced  it  to  a  dreadful  state  of  famine ;  the 
citizens  ofiered  to  surrender,  but  Louis  returned  so  harsh  and 
cruel  an  answer,  as  to  reduce  them  to  complete  despair. 
They  then  thought  of  Philippe,  the  son  of  their  former 
leader,  Jacob  von  Artevelde,  who  had  hitherto  been  a 
peaceful  and  studious  man,  but  who  was  believed  to  pos- 
sess great  vigor  of  character.  They  made  him  their  cap- 
tain, and  half-starved  and  miserable  as  they  were,  he  led 
them  out  of  the  town,  and  falling  suddenly  on  Louis's  camp 
near  Bruges,  completely  routed  his  army.  He  fled  into 
Bruges;  the  men  of  Ghent  followed  him,  and  the  towns- 
people rising  in  tumult  to  join  them,  he  was  in  extreme 


156  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  X. 

danger.  He  rushed  into  the  house  of  a  poor  widow,  and 
begged  her  to  hide  him  :  she  told  him  to  get  into  the  mis- 
erable bed  where  her  children  were  lying  huddled  together, 
aiid  he  had  but  just  time  to  do  so  before  the  Whitehoods 
hurried  in  in  pursuit  of  him ;  but  seeing  only  a  set  of  little 
children,  as  they  thought,  they  soon  left  the  house,  and  he 
succeeded  in  escaping  to  Paris,  where  he  begged  the  young 
king,  Charles  VI.,  and  his  uncles,  to  come  to  his  aid. 

Philippe  von  Artevelde  became,  after  his  victory,  the  first 
man  in  Flanders ;  all  the  cities  obeyed  his  orders,  and  for 
some  time  he  showed  great  wisdom  in  his  arrangements ;  but 
after  a  time  he  grew  harsh  and  haughty,  affecting  more  state 
than  men  of  noble  birth,  and  showing  that  he  had  not  stead- 
iness to  bear  his  elevation.  The  news  of  the  great  expedi- 
tion fitting  out  in  France  so  alarmed  the  Flemings  that  they 
began  to  fall  from  him,  and  he  had  been  obliged  to  take  up 
arms  against  some  of  them  before  the  arrival  of  the  French 
forces. 

Charles  YL,  a  high-spirited  boy  of  fourteen,  was  in  rap- 
tures at  being  allowed  to  begin  his  first  campaign,  and  dis- 
playing the  oriflamme,  he  came  a'  the  head  of  all  his  chiv- 
alry, under  the  care  of  his  uncles,  and  invaded  Flanders. 
The  Whitehoods  were  growing  discontented  with  Artevelde, 
and  forced  him  to  give  battle  at  the  bridge  of  Rosbecque, 
contrary  to  his  own  judgment.  They  were  completely 
routed,  and  Artevelde,  after  fighting  bravely,  was  earned 
along  in  the  crowd  of  fugitives,  and  trampled  to  death  in 
the  press  upon  the  bridge. 

The  greater  part  of  Flanders  was  overrun  by  the  French, 
and  the  town  of  Courtrai  especially  suffered  dreadfully,  but 
Ghent  closed  its  gates,  and  kept  up  a  steady  resistance. 
Louis  of  Flanders  was  stabbed  by  the  Duke  de  Berri  in  a 
fit  of  passion,  and  his  county  was  inherited  by  his  daughter 
Marguerite,  second  wife  of  Philippe,  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
who  at  last  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  obedience  of  Ghent, 
promising  to  preserve  the  liberties  of  the  country.  He  was 
a  generous  prince,  and  was  much  beloved  in  both  Burgundy 
and  Flanders. 


THE    MAD    KIXG.  157 

PART   III.       THE    MAD   KING.       1392-1415. 

Charles  YL's  was  a  melancholy  history.  He  was  a  child 
of  high  promise,  as  long  as  his  parents  lived  to  control  him; 
but  his  mother  died  nearly  at  the  same  time  as  his  father, 
and  after  he  became  king,  his  education  was  neglected,  his 
violent  temper  unchecked,  and  each  of  the  parties  of  his 
uncles,  and  the  other  princes  of  the  blood,  tried  to  gain  favor 
with  him  by  flattering  all  his  tastes,  whether  for  good  or 
evil.  He  married,  when  about  sixteen,  Isabelle  of  Bavaria, 
a  dull,  selfish  girl,  indolent,  and  inclined  to  nothing  but 
self-indulgence,  especially  in  eating. 

There  was  one  person  for  whom  Charles  had  a  sincere 
attachment  and  admiration,  the  old  Constable,  Olivier  de 
Clisson,  who  was,  perhaps,  his  best  friend,  as,  excepting  his 
cruelty  to  the  English,  he  was  chivalrous,  honorable,  and 
devotedly  loyal.  One  night,  as  Olivier  was  returning  from 
the  palace,  he  was  suddenly  set  upon  by  armed  men,  who 
made  a  murderous  attack  upon  him  with  their  swords.  He 
defended  himself  as  well  as  he  could,  setting  his  back  against 
the  door  of  a  baker's  shop,  but  he  had  already  received  sev- 
eral wounds,  and  would  doubtless  have  been  killed  had  not 
the  door  flown  open,  so  that  he  fell  down  into  the  house, 
and  the  murderers,  thinking  their  work  done,  fled  precipi- 
tately. Olivier  was  taken  up  half  dead,  and  as  soon  as  the 
king  heard  what  had  happened,  though  he  was  half  undrest, 
he  threw  on  his  cloak,  bade  his  guards  light  their  torches, 
and  hastened  to  see  his  friend,  whom  he  found  just  recover- 
ing his  senses,  lying  on  a  bed  at  the  baker's  house.  Olivier 
had  recognized  a  favorite  knight  of  his  great  enemy,  the 
Duke  of  Brittany,  who  had  before  made  an  attempt  on  his 
life,  and  when  he  spoke  of  it  to  the  king,  Charles  replied, 
*'  Never  shall  any  crime  be  so  heavily  paid  for  as  this." 

Clisson's  suspicions  had  done  the  duke  no  injustice,  for  the 
assassins  had  gone  straight  to  Brittany,  where  the  duke  re- 
ceived them  thus  :  "  What  poor  creatures  you  are,  not  to  be 
able  to  kill  a  man  when  you  have  him  down  !" 

The  Constable  recovered,  and  Charles,  collecting  his 
army,  set  out  for  Brittany  to  punish  the  duke.  His  uncles 
thought  the  expedition  very  imprudent,  and  tried  to  pre- 


153  LAXDMAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [ciIAP.  X. 

vent  it,  but  he  was  so  hasty  and  violent,  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  oppose  hira.  On  the  day  he  rode  from  Mans,  it 
was  extremely  hot  and  sultry,  and  the  whole  army  was  op- 
pressed by  the  weather,  especially  the  king,  who  had  been 
feverish  and  unwell  for  some  days  past.  As  they  were 
going  through  a  wood,  a  man  all  in  white,  probably  a  mad- 
man, rushed  out  of  the  bushes,  and  catching  his  horse  by 
the  bridle,  cried,  "  Ride  no  further,  King :  thou  art  be- 
trayed !"  then,  as  the  guards  came  up,  ran  back  into  the 
thicket.  The  king  did  not  speak,  and  rode  on  across  a 
burning  sandy  plain,  where  there  was  no  shelter  from  the 
heat  of  the  noonday  sun.  A  page  who  was  riding  near 
him,  fell  asleep  in  the  heat,  and  the  lance  which  he  carried, 
sinking  in  his  hand,  clanked  upon  the  helmet  of  the  man  in 
front  of  him.  The  noise  of  the  weapon  roused  the  king 
from  his  stupor  into  a  frenzy.  "  Down  with  these  traitors  !" 
he  cried,  drawing  his  sword,  and  cutting  down  one  of  his 
guards.  He  killed  four  men  in  a  few  seconds,  and  was 
rushing  on  his  brother  Louis,  Duke  of  Orleans,  when  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  cried  out,  "  Alas  !  alas  !  my  lord  is  out 
of  his  senses !"  The  poor  king  struck  on  all  sides,  but  his 
attendants  saved  their  lives  by  throwing  themselves  down 
before  the  blow  reached  them,  and  at  last,  when  he  was 
quite  exhausted  with  his  exertions,  overpowered  him,  laid 
him  on  the  ground,  and  carried  him  back  to  Mans,  perfectly 
helpless,  and  his  eyes  rolling  horribly. 

He  was  long  very  ill,  and  for  several  months  was  out  of 
his  senses,  but  at  length,  to  the  joy  of  all  Franco,  he  re- 
covered, and  was  for  some  time  perfectly  well.  At  last, 
when  there  was  a  great  feast  at  the  Louvre,  he,  with  four 
of  his  nobles,  agreed  to  amuse  themselves  by  dressing  up 
as  satyrs,  or  wild  men  of  the  woods.  In  this  character  they 
put  on  garments  covered  with  tow,  to  represent  hair,  sitting 
close  to  the  skin,  with  wreaths  of  green  leaves  round  their 
heads  and  waists,  and  thus  disguised,  they  came  all  chained 
together  into  the  hall,  and  performed  a  dance  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  the  ladies. 

The  king  soon  unchained  himself  from  the  others,  and 
was  standing  by  his  aunt,  the  Duchess  de  Bern,  making  her 
guess  who  he  was,  when  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  in  examinmg 


THE    MAD    KING.  159 

the  rest,  unhappily  held  the  torch  so  near  one  of  them  that 
the  tow  caught  fire.  Chained  together  as  they  were, 
the  unfortunate  men  could  not  escape.  One,  indeed,  suc- 
ceeded in  breaking  the  chain,  and,  rushing  out  of  the  hall, 
threw  himself  into  a  tub  of  water,  and  put  out  the  flames. 
The  Duchess  de  Berri  saved  the  king  by  covering  him  with 
her  mantle,  but  the  other  three  were  burnt  to  death,  and 
the  horror  of  the  adventure  occasioned  a  return  of  Charles's 
madness. 

He  was  subject  to  such  attacks  through  the  rest  of  his 
life,  and  they  became  more  and  more  frequent,  till  his  in- 
tervals of  reason  were  only  long  enough  to  show  him  the 
misery  around  him,  the  quarrels  of  his  relations,  the  dis- 
tress of  his  subjects,  the  crimes  of  his  wife  Isabelle,  who 
was  in  love  with  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  and  the 
neglect  in  which  his  poor  children  were  left,  often  without 
proper  clothes  or  food.  Everything  grew  worse  after  he 
lost  his  uncle,  Philippe  le  Hardi,  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
the  best  of  the  family,  who  alone  had  any  real  attachment 
for  him ;  and  the  only  person  who  took  any  care  of  him 
was  his  sister-in-law,  Valentine,  Duchess  of  Orleans,  who, 
though  a  daughter  of  the  cruel  and  perfidious  house  of 
Visconti,  was  an  excellent  woman,  and  could,  by  her  gentle- 
ness, calm  the  fits  of  frenzy,  dunng  which  no  one  else  would 
venture  near  him.  And  for  this  reason  her  enemies  wfere 
wicked  enough  to  accuse  her  of  witchcraft ! 

Jean,  the  son  and  successor  of  Philippe  of  Burgundy, 
was  called  Sans  Peur,  or  without  fear,  because  he  was  not 
only  without  the  fear  of  man,  but  without  the  fear  of  God. 
Though  he  had  been  educated  with  his  cousin  Louis,  Duke 
of  Orleans,  he  hated  him  excessively ;  and  making  himself 
the  favorite  of  the  burghers  of  Paris,  and  all  the  lower 
classes,  he  vehemently  opposed  the  Orleans  party.  After 
many  combats,  and  violent  disputes,  the  king,  in  one  of 
his  intervals  of  reason,  hoped  that  he  had  reconciled  them. 
They  solemnly  swore  to  lay  aside  all  hatred,  embraced  and 
received  the  Holy  Communion  together,  in  token  of  peace 
and  concord;  but  at  that  very  moment  Jean  Sans  Peur 
was  planning  the  murder  of  his  rival,  and  two  days  after, 
as  Louis  of  Orleans  was  riding:  home  on  a  mule  from  a  visit 


160  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  X. 

to  the  queen,  he  was  attacked  by  some  assassins,  who  had 
been  placed  in  ambush  by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  and 
killed  on  the  spot. 

Jean  Sans  Peur  avowed  the  murder,  and  even  found  a 
doctor  of  theology  who  made  a  discourse  to  justify  it. 
In  vain  Valentine  came,  dressed  in  her  mourning  weeds, 
and  leading  her  three  sons,  to  implore  the  king's  justice; 
the  duke  was  too  powerful  to  be  attacked,  and  had  all  the 
mob  of  Paris  on  his  side :  he  kept  the  king,  queen,  and 
their  children,  in  a  sort  of  captivity,  and  all  the  hatred  and 
impatience  with  which  the  young  Dauphin  Jean  regarded 
the  yoke,  could  not  avail  to  break  it. 

To  add  to  all  these  miseries,  it  was  at  this  very  time, 
1415,  that  Henry  V.  of  England  revived  the  old  claim  of 
Edward  III.,  invaded  France,  and  overthrew  the  Dauphin 
Jean  with  all  his  chivalry,  at  Agincourt.  The  slaughter 
was  much  greater  than  at  the  former  battles ;  great  num- 
bers of  the  noblest  of  the  French  were  killed,  and  many 
more  made  prisoners,  among  whom  the  most  noted  were 
the  young  Duke  of  Orleans,  and  Arthur,  Count  de  Riche- 
mont,  a  son  of  the  Duke  of  Brittany.  Henry's  policy  was 
not  to  allow  his  prisoners  to  be  ransomed,  especially  the 
Count  de  Richemont,  because  there  was  a  saying  that  Rich- 
mond should  come  out  of  Brittany  and  conquer  England, 
and  they  remained  in  captivity  in  England  through  the 
rest  of  his  life  and  that  of  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford. 

PART  IV.       GERMAN    AFFAIRS.        1378-1415. 

The  house  of  Luxemburg  had  rapidly  degenerated.  The 
Emperor  Heinrich  VII.  was  a  great  and  excellent  prince ; 
his  son  Johann  of  Bohemia  was  a  good  man  and  true  knight, 
but  a  very  bad  king ;  Charles  IV.  was  weak  and  treacher- 
ous, and  his  son  Wenzel,  or  Wenceslas,  who,  in  1378,  suc- 
ceeded him  as  emperor  and  King  of  Bohemia,  was  so 
wicked  and  foolish  that  it  is  only  to  be  hoped  that  he  had 
not  possession  of  his  senses. 

The  House  of  Ilapsburg  had  in  the  mean  time  continued 
in   possession  of  the   dukedom  of  Austria,  prospering  in 


GERMAN   AFFAIRS.  161 

everything  excepting  in  their  attempts  to  establish  their 
unjust  dominion  over  the  brave  Swiss.  Leopold,  the  brother 
of*  that  Frederick  who  disputed  the  empire  with  Ludwig, 
sustained  a  noted  defeat  from  them  in  1326,  at  Morgarten, 
whither  he  had  advanced,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  his 
jester,  who  told  him  he  had  to  consider,  not  how  he  was  to 
get  into  Switzerland,  but  how  he  was  to  get  out  of  it.  He 
involved  himself  in  a  narrow  pass  of  the  mountains,  where 
the  Swiss  rolled  down  trunks  of  trees  and  fragments  of 
rock  upon  his  forces.  The  greater  part  of  his  anny  was 
slain ;  and  Leopold  himself  escaped  with  great  difficulty. 

Sixty  years  later  his  nephew  and  namesake,  the  Duke  of 
Austria,  with  four  thousand  German  knights  and  squires, 
invaded  Switzerland,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  of  Sem- 
pach  found  fourteen  hundred  peasants,  so  poorly  armed, 
that  some  of  them  had  only  a  club  and  a  round  piece  of 
wood  for  a  shield.     The  German  knights  laughed  at  such 
an  array,  and  one  of  them  engaged  to  serve  them  all  up 
that  night  to  the  duke,  roasted  or  boiled,  as  best  might 
please  him.     As  the  horses  were  useless  among  the  moun- 
tains, Leopold  ordered  the  troops  to  dismount,  and  to  stand 
close  together,  so  as  to  form  a  perfect  wall  of  armor,  brist- 
ling with  the  points  of  lances.      The  Swiss  knelt  down 
to  pray  for  aid  and  for  mercy  to  such  as  should  fall,  then 
rushed   upon   the   enemy,  but  were   repulsed   with  great 
slaughter :  the  charge  was  renewed,  but  in  vain,  and  they 
would  have  been  lost,  had  not  a  peasant,  named  Arnold 
von  Winkelried,  devoted  as  Leonidas,  cried  out,  "  I  will 
make  a  way  for  you,  comrades ;  take  care  of  my  wife  and 
child ;"  then  rushing  on  the  line  of  spears,  he  caught  as 
many  as  he  could  grasp  with  his  arms,  pressed  them  all 
at  once  against  his  breast,  and  held  them  as  he  fell,  trod- 
den down  under  the  troops  of  his  countrymen,  who  forced 
their  way  into  the  opening  thus  formed,  breaking  the  ranks 
^  of  the  Germans,  and  dashing  out  their  brains  with  their 
'  clubs.      The  Germans  would  have  fled,  but  their  servants 
had  mounted  the  horses  and  galloped  away,  and  after  fight- 
ing desperately  for  some  time,  they  were  all  killed  or  made 
prisoners.      Leopold  himself  was  killed  by  a  Swiss,  who 
found  him  lying  on  the  ground,  faint  with  heat  and  fatigue, 


162  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  X. 

and  the  murderer  was  adjudged  by  the  confederates  to  suf- 
fer death. 

The  Emperor  Wenzel  was  one  of  the  wildest  and  wicked- 
est madmen  that  ever  reigned.  He  once  invited  the  Bohe- 
mian nobles  to  a  feast,  where  they  found  him  on  an  open 
plain,  with  three  tents,  red,  white,  and  black,  pitched  to 
receive  them.  He  occupied  the  black  one,  whither  they 
were  led  to  speak  to  him,  when  he  required  them  to  yield 
up  to  him  the  crown  lands  in  their  possession.  If  they  re- 
fused, they  were  hurried  into  the  red  tent,  and  beheaded ; 
if  they  yielded,  they  were  feasted  in  the  white  one. 

lohanko  von  Nepomuk*  was  a  priest  at  Prague,  so 
esteemed  for  his  wisdom  and  holiness,  that  Sophia,  the  wife 
of  Wenzel,  took  him  for  her  confessor.  The  emperor  tried 
to  make  him  reveal  her  confessions,  but  he  steadily  refused, 
and  gave  further  offence  by  boldly  rebuking  the  emperor 
for  his  horrible  cruelties,  especially  when  he  caused  an  un- 
fortunate cook  to  be  spitted  and  roasted  alive,  for  not  hav- 
ing dressed  a  fowl  sufficiently.  Wenzel  threw  ^N'epomuk 
into  prison,  and  threatened  him  with  death,  unless  he 
would  betray  the  queen's  secrets,  and  finding  him  still 
firm,  drowned  him  in  the  Moldau.  He  was  enrolled  in  the 
canon  of  saints  by  Pope  Benedict  XIH.,  and  is  much  hon- 
ored in  Bohemia  by  the  name  of  St.  Nepomucene.  The 
Pope  decided  who  were  to  be  revered  as  saints,  and  often 
gained  much  money  from  kings  who  desired  to  have  their 
friends  canonized,  as  in  the  case  of  Charles  de  Blois,  the 
pretender  to  the  dukedom  of  Brittany. 

As  Wenzel  neither  knew  nor  cared  anything  about  the 
empire  of  Germany,  never  came  thither,  and  never  held  a 
Diet,  the  Electors  agreed  to  bestow  the  crown  on  a  more 
deserving  prince.  Several  persons  were  chosen  at  first, 
but  after  a  few  years  of  disputing,  the  successful  candidate 
was  Sigismund  of  Luxemburg,  the  brother  of  Wenzel,  and 
husband  to  the  female  King  of  Hungary.  Though  better 
endowed  than  Wenzel,  he  was  a  vain  weak  man,  who  did 
not  do  much  credit  to  the  choice  of  the  Electors.  Wenzel 
still  retained  his  hereditary  kingdom  of  Bohemia. 

The  great  event  of  Sigismund's  reign,  was  the  calling  a 
♦  Or,  as  we  would  call  him,  John. 


GERMAN   AFFAIRS.  163 

council  of  the  Western  Church,  to  put  an  end  to  the  great 
schism,  and  to  attempt  a  reformation  of  some  of  the  abuses, 
which  were  growing  too  great  to  be  tolerated. 

Boniface  IX.,  the  Roman  Pope,  had  tried  to  raise  money 
by  the  sale  of  indulgences.  It  was  an  idea  which  had  risen 
in  the  Romish  Church,  that  the  saints  had  done  so  many 
good  works,  as  not  only  to  save  themselves,  but  to  leave 
some  over  (which  were  called  works  of  supererogation), 
which,  as  the  whole  Church  had  everything  in  common, 
might  be  applied  to  the  benefit  of  others  who  had  not  made 
up  a  sufficient  amount  of  righteous  deeds.  On  this  most 
false  doctrine,  a  still  more  shocking  practice  was  founded  by 
the  needy  and  avaricious  Popes  in  the  time  of  the  great 
schism.  Formerly,  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome  in  the  year  of 
Jubilee,  a  Crusade,  or  some  other  observance,  was  sup- 
posed to  give  a  right  to  some  of  this  store  of  good  works, 
and  free  the  soul  for  such  or  such  a  time  from  the  flames 
of  purgatory;  but  now  Boniface  XIII.,  without  thinking, 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  of  the  horrible  profanity,  commissioned 
the  begging  friars,  in  his  name,  to  sell  these  indulgences  at 
a  greater  or  less  price,  according  to  the  number  of  years  they 
professed  to  deduct  from  purgatory.  Their  tables  for  sell- 
mg  were  set  up  in  the  churches  in  all  the  countries  which 
owned  the  authority  of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  in  opposition  to 
that  of  the  Avignon  Pope,  and  the  sale  was  made,  if  possi- 
ble, more  shocking,  by  the  irreverence  of  both  buyers  and 
sellers. 

All  right-minded  men  set  their  faces  against  this  wicked- 
ness, and  throughout  Europe  there  was  a  call  for  putting  an 
end  to  the  schism,  and  reforming  the  Church. 

Ladislao,  King  of  Naples,  was  much  bent  on  the  plan, 
though  a  very  wicked  man.  He  took  Rome,  and  burnt  it, 
and  made  the  Roman  Pope  promise  to  meet  the  Avignon 
Pope ;  while  on  his  side  Charles  VI.  made  his  Antipope  at 
Avignon  set  off  to  the  place  of  meeting,  by  declaring  he 
would  have  no  Pope  at  all,  unless  they  came  to  an  agree- 
ment. 

At  last,  after  many  delays,  they  did  hold  what  was 
called  the  Council  of  Pisa,  where  the  cardinals  of  the  two 
parties  came  to  an  agreement  to  depose  both,  as  guilty  of 


104  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  X. 

schism,  and  to  elect  another,  who  took  the  name  of  Alex- 
ander v.,  and  promised  to  convene  another  council  for  the 
reform  of  the  Church;  but  as  neither  of  the  other  two 
Popes  would  resign,  and  as  they  found  partisans,  the  con- 
fusion was  made  worse  than  ever,  since  there  were  now 
three  Popes  instead  of  only  two. 

Before  Alexander  Y.  could  fulfil  his  promise,  he  died, 
and  the  cardinals  elected  John  XXIII.,  one  of  the  wicked- 
est men  who  ever  sat  on  the  papal  throne. 

Ladislao  of  Naples  died  about  the  same  time,  leaving 
his  kingdom  to  his  sister  Giovanna  II.,  who  was  almost  as 
miserable  and  wicked  as  her  predecessor,  Giovanna  I.  At 
the  same  time,  the  line  of  Kings  of  Sicily  had  come  to  an 
end  in  Queen  Maria,  who  married  Martin,  King  of  Aragon, 
and  thus  brought  back  Sicily  to  that  kingdom. 

PART   V.      THE    COUNCIL    OF    CONSTANCE.       1414-1418. 

The  Emperor  Sigismund,  Charles  YI.  of  France,  and 
Henry  Y.  of  England,  were  all  equally  desirous  of  bringing 
to  an  end  all  these  dreadful  scandals  in  the  Church,  and  at 
last  succeeded  in  convoking  a  council  of  the  Western 
Church  to  meet  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  November,  1414. 
Sigismund  was  the  only  crowned  head  there  present,  but 
the  other  princes  all  sent  their  representatives,  and  there 
were  an  immense  number  of  clergy  of  every  rank. 

Sigismund  opened  the  council,  in  imitation  of  Constantino 
the  Great,  at  Nicea,  but  he  only  exposed  his  ignorance  and 
vanity,  for  he  made  a  mistake  in  his  Latin,  and  when  it 
was  pointed  out,  answered,  "  I  am  King  of  the  Romans, 
and  above  the  rules  of  grammar."  However,  he  seems  to 
have  been  in  earnest  in  trying  to  lead  the  much-needed 
reformation,  and  had  he  been  more  strict  in  his  own  moral 
conduct,  his  efforts  might  have  met  with  more  success. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  depose  the  three  rival 
Popes.  John  ^XIII.,  the  only  one  there  present,  was  forced . 
to  resign,  and  imprisoned,  as  he  well  deserved  ;  the  Koman 
Antipope  himself  sent  in  his  resignation,  and  resumed  his 
real  name ;  and  only  the  Avignon  Antipope,  a  Spaniard, 
whose  name  was  Pedro  de  Luna,  remained  obstinate.     He 


THE    COUNCIL    OP   CONSTANCE.  165 

was  the  only  person  alive  who  had  been  created  cardinal 
before  the  schism.  At  first,  King  Martin  of  Aragon  sup- 
ported him,  but  Sigismund  hurried  off  to  Perpignan,  met 
Martin  there,  and  persuaded  him  to  give  up  Luna,  who  fled 
into  a  castle  and  shut  himself  up  there,  calling  it  Noah's 
Ark,  which  alone  contained  the  true  Church,  and  denoun- 
cing all  the  rest  of  the  world  as  schismatical.  No  one,  how- 
ever, attended  to  his  pretensions,  and  the  schism  of  Avignon 
died  with  him. 

The  next  work  ought  to  have  been  the  reform  of  the 
Church,  but  to  this  the  Italians  were  resolved  not  to  submit, 
and  as  the  cardinals  were  almost  all  of  that  nation,  there 
was  no  chance  of  their  electing  a  Pope  willing  to  cease  from 
the  abuses  of  his  power,  or  to  censure  their  vices.  Sigis- 
mund tried  to  make  the  reform  be  effected  before  the  Pope 
was  chosen,  but  he  found  only  the  English  willing  to  sup- 
port him  in  the  proposal,  and  they  all  together  turned  to 
what  pleased  them  much  better  than  blaming  themselves, 
to  hunting  down  those  unauthorized  men  who  had  found 
fault  with  them. 

Johann  Huss  came  to  Constance  with  a  safe  conduct  from 
Sigismund  himself,  but,  regardless  of  this,  he  was  thrown 
into  the  same  prison  as  the  wicked  old  John  XXIII.,  and 
after  a  time  was  tried  before  the  council,  found  guilty  of 
heresy,  and  burnt  to  death.  His  friend,  Jerome  of  Prague, 
who  had  voluntarily  surrendered  himself,  at  first  agreed  to 
recant,  but  afterward  repented  of  his  want  of  firmness,  and 
was  burnt  like  his  master.  The  Lollards  were  at  the  same 
time  persecuted  in  England,  and  Lord  Cobham  put  to  death 
in  the  same  manner. 

The  council  had  lasted  four  years  without  doing  any- 
thing toward  reforming  abuses,  every  one  was  weary  of  it, 
and  at  last  the  cardinals  were  allowed  to  make  an  election. 
'>.They  chose  an  Italian,  who  called  himself  Martin  V.,  and 
who,  making  a  private  agreement  with  each  monarch,  that 
such  practices  as  were  most  disliked  in  their  separate  king- 
doms should  there  be  discontinued,  broke  up  the  council, 
after  it  had  effected  no  good  except  the  cessation  of  the 
schism,  and  had  proved  the  extreme  degradation  of  the 
clergy  in  general  of  the  Church  of  Rome  at  that  time. 


166  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  X. 

The  numerous  followers  of  Huss  in  Bohemia  were  tre- 
mendously enraged  at  his  death.  John  Ziska,  an  old  war- 
rior, who  had  private  wrongs  to  avenge  against  a  Romish 
priest,  placed  himself  at  their  head,  and  a  frightful  outbreak 
took  place  at  Prague,  which  so  alarmed  King  Wenzel,  that 
he  was  seized  with  apoplexy,  and  died  in  1418.  The  Huss- 
ites intrenched  themselves  on  a  hill  near  Prague,  which 
they  called  Mount  Tabor  :  from  this  fortification  they  were 
known  as  Taborites.  They  demanded  that  the  Holy  Com- 
munion should  be  administered  in  both  kinds  to  the  laity, 
and  carried  on  their  banner  a  chalice ;  hence  they  were 
called  Calixtins.  Ziska  and  his  followers  marched  through 
the  land  with  this  banner  at  their  head ;  they  burned 
churches,  plundered  convents,  and  horribly  murdered  the 
clergy.  Ziska  lost  his  sight  by  an  accident,  and  was  known 
as  the  "  terrible  blind  man."  They  defeated  the  Emperor 
and  the  Duke  of  Austria,  and  ravaged  the  country  without 
resistance  ;  their  march  was  guided  at  night  by  the  light  of 
blazing  villages.  Ziska  died  in  1424,  but  the  war  continued 
for  ten  years  longer,  until  at  length  their  violences  grew 
less,  and  Sigismund,  now  King  of  Bohemia,  consented  to 
make  peace  with  them,  allowing  them  to  exercise  their  re- 
ligion as  Huss  had  taught  them. 

At  this  time  reigned  in  Denmark  the  great  Queen  Mar- 
garet, called  the  Semiramis  of  the  North.  She  inherited 
Denmark  from  her  father.  She  married  Hako,  King  of 
Korway,  and,  after  his  death,  the  crown  of  Sweden  becom- 
ing vacant,  which,  had  he  lived,  he  would  have  inherited, 
she  assumed  it ;  but  it  was  disputed  by  the  right  heir,  Al- 
bert of  Mecklenburg,  who,  in  derision  of  a  woman's  taking 
the  command,  sent  her  an  immense  whetstone,  desiring  her 
to  sharpen  her  sword  on  it ;  to  which  she  replied  by  fasten- 
ing her  shift  to  a  lance,  and  causing  it  to  be  carried  as  a 
standard  before  her  army.  Albert  was  defeated  at  Falkop-?' 
ing,  made  prisoner,  and  very  ill-treated  by  her  order,  till  he 
resigned  all  pretensions  to  the  crown ;  and  thus,  by  the 
union  of  Calmar,  in  1397,  Scandinavia  came  under  one  gov- 
ernment. V 

Margaret  died  in  1412,  after  a  reign  of  thirty-seven  years, 
in  which  she  made  herself  much  loved  in  Denmark,  and 


THE    TUKKS.  167 

hated  in  Sweden.  She  had  no  children,  and  left  her  thrones 
to  her  great-nephew  Erik,  Duke  of  Pomerania,  who  was 
probably  the  last  royal  pilgrim.  He  went  to  Jerusalem, 
leaving  the  government  of  his  kingdom  to  his  excellent  wife 
Philippa,  a  daughter  of  Henry  IV.  of  England.  On  his 
way  through  Constantinople,  a  sketch  was  taken  of  his 
features,  and  treacherously  sent  by  the  Emperor  Manuel 
Palseologos  to  the  Sultan  of  Egypt,  who  made  him  pris- 
oner, and  detained  him  till  he  had  paid  a  heavy  ransom. 
Philippa  meantime  governed  his  kingdom  with  great  mild- 
ness, and  yet  with  courage  ;  but  the  manners  of  the  Danes 
still  seem  to  have  been  very  savage,  for  Erik,  in  a  fit  of 
passion  at  the  ill  success  of  an  expedition  which  she  had 
planned,  struck  her  a  blow,  which  so  injured  her  health, 
that,  unable  any  longer  to  serve  him,  she  went  into  a  con- 
vent, and  there  died. 

After  her  death  Erik's  government  was  so  harsh,  that  his 
subjects  rebelled,  forced  him  to  fly,  and  set  up  a  new  king  ; 
but  though  Denmark  soon  again  became  prosperous,  Swe- 
den, wliich  was  governed  by  administrators  appointed  by 
the  king,  fell  into  a  miserable  state  of  oppression  and  con- 
fusion. 


CHAPTER  XI/ 

GROWTH  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.    1306-1481. 

PART   I.       THE    TURKS.       1306-1405. 

It  may  be  remembered  that  when  Zenghis  Khan  broke  out 
of  Tartary,  and  threatened  all  the  civilized  parts  of  the 
w^orld,  he  left  behind  him  several  bands  of  Tartars  in  Asia 
Minor.  These  adopted  the  Mahometan  religion,  entered 
the  service  of  the  Sultan  of  Icpnium,  and  became  known 
by  the  name  of  Turks,  which  had  in  fact  only  properly  be- 
longed to  their  predecessors  the  Turkomans,  who  conquered 
Jerusalem  in  1050,  and  had  since  been  nearly  crushed  by 
the  Crusaders  and  Arabs  of  Egypt. 


1G8  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XI. 

Otliman,  the  chief  of  one  of  these  tribes,  was  a  very  able 
man,  who  gradually  overcame  his  master,  the  Sultan  of 
Iconium,  took  his  title,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  an  em- 
pire called  by  his  name,  Othman,  or  as  it  has  been  cor- 
rupted, Ottoman.  The  disputes  at  Constantinople  caused 
the  usurping  emperor,  John  Cantacuzenus,  to  call  in  the 
aid  of  the  Turks,  and  he  thus  first  gave  them  a  footing  in' 
Europe,  which  they  were  not  slow  to  improve.  Cantacu- 
zenus found  them  so  formidable  that,  ready  to  use  any 
means  of  making  friends  with  them,  he  actually  bestowed 
his  daughter  Theodora  in  marriage  on  Orchan,  the  son  of 
Othman ;  but  he  did  not  gain  much  by  this  shameful  sac- 
rifice, for  the  power  of  the  Turks  continued  to  increase 
steadily. 

Murad,  or,  as  the  Europeans  used  to  call  him,  Amurath, 
the  son  of  Orchan,  made  still  greater  progress.  He  united 
all  the  Turkish  tribes  under  his  government,  and  estab- 
lished a  body  of  troops,  something  like  the  Mamelukes  of 
Egypt,  formed  entirely  of  Christian  slaves,  captured  too 
young  to  remember  their  homes  and  their  religion,  chosen 
for  their  beauty  and  strength,  and  bred  up  to  great  dex- 
terity in  arms  and  devotion  to  the  Sultan.  When  he  first 
saw  these  new  troops  drawn  up  before  him,  he  exclaimed, 
"  Let  their  name  be  Zenghi  cheri  (new  soldiers) ;  may  their 
courage  never  cease  to  be  bright,  their  sword  sharp,  and 
their  arm  victorious !  May  their  lance  be  ever  over  the 
head  of  their  foe,  their  arrows  swift  to  reach  the  mark, 
and  may  they  ever  return  from  their  expeditions  with  their 
faces  white."  This  name  of  Zenghi  cheri  was  turned  by 
the  Europeans  into  Janissaries,  and  this  corps  was,  almost 
down  to  our  days,  the  most  powerful  and  formidable  of  the 
Turkish  force. 

John  Palieologos  (who  recovered  his  power  after  Can- 
tacuzenus had  retired  into  a  monastery)  strove  in  vain  to 
resist  the  1  urks.  In  vain  he  came  to  Rome  and  oifered  to 
reconcile  his  Church  to  the  Roman  See;  it  was  in  the 
midst  of  the  great  schism  and  of  the  wars  between  Edward 
III.  and  Jean  of  France,  and  though  he  obtained  many 
promises,  no  one  could  or  would  help  him,  and  he  was  ob- 
liged to  make  a  treaty  with  Amurath,  giving  up  to  him  all 


THE   TURKS.  169 

hia  possessions,  excepting  Constantinople,  Thessalonica, 
part  of  the  Morea,  and  one  or  two  islands.  The  Ottoman 
empire  was  now  so  wide  that  Amurath  was  obliged  to  es- 
tablish Pashas,  or  governors,  in  the  more  distant  parts, 
while  he  himself  fixed  his  seat  of  empire  at  Adrianople. 
It  was  a  thorough  despotism ;  every  Turk  was  a  soldier, 
and,  in  fact,  a  slave.  There  was  no  gradation  of  rank  by- 
birth,  but  the  beggar  one  day  might  be  Vizier  or  Prime 
Minister  the  next.  The  Pashas  were  absolute  in  their  own 
domain,  but  the  Sultan  was  absolute  over  them ;  and  they 
had  no  security  that  any  moment  he  might  not  cause  them 
to  be  strangled  without  a  trial — nay,  without  knowing 
their  offence.  The  standard  of  the  Pashas,  carried  before 
them  in  token  of  their  dignity,  was  one,  two,  or  three  tails, 
usually  called  horse-tails,  but  really  tailf^  of  the  yak  ox,  in 
commemoration  of  their  Kurdish  descent. 

The  Turks  next  attempted  the  overthrow  of  the  Bul- 
garians, and  other  half-savage  tribes  on  the  borders  of  the 
Greek  empire,  who  had  fallen  under  the  dominion  of  the 
great  Louis  of  Hungary,  but  had  shaken  off"  the  power  of 
Hungary  in  the  time  of  his  daughter  Marie. 

At  Kassova,  in  Servia,  Amurath  gained  a  signal  victory 
over  them,  but  while  he  was  viewing  the  field  of  battle  at 
night,  a  soldier,  hidden  among  the  dead,  sprung  up  and 
stabbed  him,  so  that  he  died  in  two  hours'  time,  in  the 
year  1389.  The  Turks  slaughtered  all  the  prisoners  in  re- 
venge for  his  death,  and  raised  to  his  throne  his  son,  Baja- 
zet,  surnamed  Ilderim,  or  the  Lightning,  who  began  his 
reign  by  the  murder  of  his  brothers. 

Bajazet  was  more  powerful,  more  luxurious,  and  more 
cruel  tlian  his  father.  Amurath  had  lived  and  dressed 
simply,  but  Bajazet  was  proud  and  magnificent,  without, 
however,  losing  the  activity  and  courage  which  befitted 
one  of  the  founders  of  a  new  empire.  He  gained  a  great 
victory  over  Sigismund  of  Luxemburg,  then  only  King  of 
Hungary,  threatened  that  country,  and  spread  his  con- 
quests up  to  the  very  walls  of  Constantinople,  keeping  the 
Greeks  in  such  subjection  that  he  obliged  them  to  demolish 
the  new  fortifications  which  they  had  begun.  Manuel 
Palaeologos  left  the  charge  of  the  empire  to  his  brother,  and 

8 


170  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP,  XI. 

came  to  France  and  England  in  search  of  aid,  but  no  one 
Avas  at  leisure  to  assist  him,  and  he  returned  in  despair. 

Constantinople  was,  however,  saved  for  fifty  years  longer 
in  an  unexpected  manner,  by  another  great  outbreak  of 
the  Mogul  Tartars  in  the  north  of  Asia.  Timour  Beg, 
otherwise  called  Tamerlane,  or  Timour  the  Lame,  was 
chieftain  of  the  Tartars  of  Samerkand.  He  was  blind  of 
one  eye,  lame  of  one  foot,  and  maimed  in  an  arm,  but  his 
courage  and  talent  were  of  the  highest  order.  He  con- 
quered the  whole  of  Western  Asia,  excepting  China,  pene- 
trated further  into  India  than  Alexander  had  ever  gone, 
and  at  length  challenged  Bajazet. 

The  proud  Sultan  scoffed  at  him,  and  replied  with  in- 
sulting letters.  Timour  marched  into  Asia  Minor :  Bajazet, 
with  forty  thousand  Janissaries,  and  a  host  of  Turks,  met 
him  at  Angora,  and  was  totally  routed.  He  was  made 
prisoner,  and  one  account  states  that  Timour  imprisoned 
him  in  an  iron  cage,  where  he  died  in  the  second  year  of 
his  captivity.  Other  histories  say  that  Timour  treated 
Bajazet  with  generous  courtesy ;  but  this  is  hardly  consist- 
ent with  the  fierce  temper  of  the  Tartar  chief,  whose  course 
was  long  after  marked  by  the  pyramids  which  he  caused  to 
be  raised  of  the  skulls  of  his  enemies. 

Timour  died  in  1405,  while  on  his  way  to  attempt  the 
conquest  of  China.  His  youngest  son  held  his  empire  to- 
gether for  a  short  time,  but  after  his  death  it  fell  entirely 
to  pieces,  and  the  only  fragment  of  it  that  attained  to  any 
greatness  was  the  Mogul  empire  in  India. 

The  fall  of  Bajazet  shattered  the  Ottoman  power,  and 
while  his  sons  were  struggling  with  each  other  for  dominion, 
the  Greeks  enjoyed  a  short  breathing-time.  If  Western 
Europe  had  been  in  a  condition  to  make  a  great  effort  in 
the  old  crusading  spirit,  these  Mussulmen — far  more  bar- 
barous than  their  predecessors,  the  Saracens — might  have 
been  forced  back  into  Asia,  and  beautiful  Greece  would 
not  have  been  for  four  hundred  years  crushed  under  their 
heavy  yoke. 


EXPULSION    OF   THE    ENGLISH   FROM   FRANCE.  171 


PART   IL       EXPULSION    OF    THE    ENGLISH   FROM   FRANCE. 

1415-1444. 

One  European  prince  seems  honestly  to  have  had  designs 
of  saving  Christendom  and  the  Holy  Land — Henry  V.  of 
England ;  but  this  was  no  more  than  a  good  intention,  and 
was  postponed  to  his  own  scheme  of  subduing  France. 

That  unhappy  country  was  in  a  worse  condition  than 
ever.  The  Dauphin  Jean  died  young,  and  his  brother 
Louis  did  not  long  survive  him ;  the  youngest  brother, 
Charles,  who  now  became  Dauphin,  inherited  all  their 
hatred  and  jealousy  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  Charles 
was  a  weak  and  indolent  man,  who  allowed  himself  to  be 
guided  by  whoever  approached  him;  and  he  was  at  this 
time  in  the  hands  of  some  servants  of  the  late  Duke  of 
Orleans,  by  whom  he  was  induced  to  give  his  consent  to  a 
crime  as  great  as  that  committed  on  their  late  master. 

He  agreed  to  meet  Jean  Sans  Peur  on  the  bridge  of 
Montereau ;  and  in  the  midst  of  the  conference,  while  the 
duke  was  kneeling  before  him,  his  servants  suddenly  drew 
their  swords,  and  before  Jean  could  rise,  cut  him  down  and 
murdered  him,  August,  1419. 

This  murder  was  as  impolitic  as  it  was  wicked,  for  it 
caused  Philippe,  the  son  of  Jean  Sans  Peur,  to  ally  himself 
with  the  English,  and  give  them  the  benefit  of  all  his  great 
power  and  influence.  Philippe  was  not  so  bad  a  man  as 
his  father,  though  neither  his  good  faith  nor  his  morals  de- 
serve the  name  of  the  Good,  by  which  he  is  distinguished,  but 
he  owed  it  to  his  gracious  manners,  his  great  liberality,  and 
the  manner  in  which  he  managed  to  win  the  favor  of  his 
own  great  Flemish  cities,  as  well  as  of  Pans,  Rouen,  and 
the  chief  French  towns. 

Queen  Isabelle  was  brought  by  him  to  consent  to  give  her 
youngest  daughter,  Catherine,  in  marriage  to  Henry  Y., 
and  to  make  the  unhappy  old  Charles  VL  settle  the  king- 
dom upon  him,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Dauphin.  Two 
years  after  the  mamage,  Henry  died,  in  1422,  and  poor  old 
Charles  VL  ended  his  unhappy  life  the  following  year. 

Such,  however,  was  the  wisdom  of  John,  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford, the  Regent  of  France,  that  Henry's  death,  brave  and 


172  LANDMAEKS   OF   HISTORY.  [cHAP.  XI 

beloved  as  he  was,  did  not  at  first  injure  the  cause  of  the 
English  in  France,  and  the  infant  Henry  VI.  was  as  peace- 
ably proclaimed  at  Paris  as  in  London. 

The  spirits  of  the  French  seemed  completely  broken; 
Charles  VII.  had  hidden  himself  in  a  corner  of  the  king- 
dom at  Bourges,  where  all  the  persuasions  of  his  wife, 
Marie  of  Anjou,  and  of  Agnes  Sorel,  a  beautiful  lady  to 
whom  he  was  unlawfully  attached,  could  not  avail  to  per- 
suade him  to  exert  himself  A  few  brave  men  still  fought 
gallantly  for  him:  Arthur  de  Richemont,  who  on  his 
return  from  prison  in  England  had  received  the  Constable's 
sword ;  the  Count  de  Dunois,  a  son  of  the  murdered 
Orleans ;  and  a  knight  known  by  the  inexplicable  nom  de 
guerre^  La  Hire,  were  at  the  head  of  the  steady  defenders 
of  his  cause,  together  with  a  band  of  Scots  who  had  been 
sent  to  their  aid ;  but  they  had  not  only  to  contend  with 
the  English,  but  with  all  the  forces  of  Burgundy ;  and  the 
Flemings  and  Hainaulters,  who  were  subjects  of  the  em- 
pire, had  not  the  same  compunction  in  fighting  against 
France,  as  if  they  were  his  liege  subjects. 

When  the  affairs  of  France  were  at  the  very  worst, 
Jeanne,  the  peasant  maiden  of  Arc,  arrived  at  Charles's 
court  at  Chinon,  to  announce  her  mission  from  heaven  to 
deliver  the  besieged  town  of  Orleans,  and  to  conduct  him 
to  be  crowned  at  Rheims.  Charles  and  his  friends  do  not 
seem  to  have  had  any  real  confidence  in  Jeanne,  excepting 
perhaps  Dunois.  The  Constable  de  Richemont,  laughed  at 
her  visions,  and  others  thought  her  a  witch ;  but  it  was 
supposed  that  she  might  encourage  the  soldiers,  and  her 
requests  were  granted. 

Her  beautiful  purity,  and  nobleness  of  conduct,  should 
have  convinced  them  all  that  the  spirit  within  her  was  of 
heaven ;  but  she  was  basely  treated ;  even  her  rescue  of 
Orleans,  whither  she  went,  accompanied  by  Dunois,  failed  to 
make  them  regard  her  as  anything  but  a  means  of  en- 
couraging the  troops ;  and  when  the  soldiers  saw  that  their 
superiors  despised  her,  they  grew  ashamed  of  being  led  by 
a  woman.  Yet  she  was  not  allowed  to  return  liome,  as  she 
desired,  when  her  work  was  done,  and  she  had  seen  the 
king  crowned  at  Rheims ;  she  was  retained  with  the  army, 


GOOD   KING   EENE.  1V3 

and  at  last  was  deserted  at  Compi^gne,  and  left  outside  the 
walls  of  the  town,  where  she  fell  mto  the  hands  of  the  Bur- 
gundians. 

Without  one  attempt  to  save  her  on  the  part  of  those 
for  whom  she  had  devoted  herself,  she  was  given  up  by 
the  English  and  Burgundians  to  the  Inquisition,  which 
condemned  her  as  a  sorceress,  and  sentenced  her  to  be 
burnt  in  the  market-place  at  Rouen. 

But  the  Maid  of  Orleans  had  saved  her  country,  just  as 
Arnold  von  Winkelried  had  won  the  battle  of  Sempach ; 
for,  by  sacrificing  herself,  she  had  given  the  first  impulse 
which  led  to  the  triumph  of  her  cause.  Richemont, 
Dunois,  and  La  Hire,  steadily  pursued  their  advantage, 
carrying  on  a  war  of  sieges  and  skirmishes,  in  the  manner 
in  which  Charles  V.  had  taught  the  French  to  oppose  the 
English ;  the  Scots  became  a  valuable  portion  of  their 
army,  and  such  of  the  French  as  had  deserted  the  losing 
cause  began  to  return  to  their  king  when  they  saw  him 
successful. 

Humfrey,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  youngest  brother  of  Henry 
v.,  had  married  Jacqueline,  heiress  of  Hainault,  a  mascu- 
line, worthless  woman,  and  for  her  sake  he  quarrelled  with 
Philippe  of  Burgundy,  who  went  over  to  Charles  VIL,  and 
was  reconciled  to  him.  Then  followed  the  losses  and  dis- 
putes of  the  Dukes  of  York  and  Somerset ;  and  finally,  in 
1444,  the  English  war  with  France  was  brought  to  a  con- 
clusion by  the  marriage  of  Henry  VI.  with  Marguerite, 
daughter  of  Rene,  Duke  of  Anjou,  after  it  had  lasted,  with 
one  interval,  for  nearly  a  century. 

PART   III.       GOOD   KING   RENE.       1435-1444. 

The  fortunes  of  Rene,  of  Anjou,  bring  us  back  to  Italy. 
He  was  the  grandson  of  that  Louis,  Duke  of  Anjou, 
brother  of  Charles  V.  of  France,  who  had  been  adopted  by 
Queen  Giovanna  I.  of  Naples,  and  he  himself  had  been 
adopted  in  the  same  manner  by  Queen  Giovanna  II.  From 
his  father  he  inherited  the  county  of  Provence  and  the 
dukedom  of  Anjou,  and  his  wife,  Isabelle,  was  heiress  of 
Lorraine,  so  that  few  persons  ever  bore  a  more  sounding 


174  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  XI. 

list  of  titles  than  he,  as  King  of  the  Two  Sicilies  and  Jeru- 
salem, Duke  of  Anjou  and  Lorraine,  and  Count  of  Prov- 
ence ;  but  the  Aragonese  held  one  Sicily,  and  were  in  a  fair 
way  to  conquer  the  other ;  Jerusalem  was  in  the  power  of 
the  Saracen,  and  Anjou  was  held  by  the  English ;  Lorraine 
was  disputed  by  Antoine  de  Vaudemont,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Burgundians ;  so  that  Provence  alone  was  in 
Rene's  possession. 

He  himself  was  as  amiable  and  good  a  man  as  ever  lived ; 
a  gallant  knight,  with  considerable  personal  courage ;  of 
such  kindness  of  heart,  and  graciousness  of  demeanor,  as 
won  the  heart  of  all  who  approached  him ;  an  artist,  a 
musician,  a  poet,  a  thorough  Proven9al  troubadour;  a  lover 
of  flowers.  .  But  his  talents  as  a  warrior  and  statesman 
were  not  equal  to  his  position,  and  his  character  was  at 
once  too  gentle  and  too  honorable  to  deal  with  the  hard 
and  deceitful  men  among  whom  his  lot  was  cast.  Yet, 
through  failure,  poverty,  and  neglect,  good  King  Kene 
preserved  his  innocence  of  heart  and  buoyancy  of  temper, 
and  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  in  his  sunny  county  of  Prov- 
ence, a  bright  refreshing  spot  among  the  selhsh,  crafty 
politicians  of  the  15th  century. 

Rene's  first  misfortune  was  in  1435,  in  his  twenty-third 
year,  while  trying  to  protect  Lorraine,  his  wife's  inheritance, 
against  her  cousin,  Antoine  de  Vaudemont,  and  his  allies 
the  Burgundians.  He  was  defeated,  wounded,  and  made 
prisoner,  but  after  a  year  was  conditionally  released  by 
Philippe  of  Burgundy,  when  the  dispute  was  committed  to 
the  decision  of  the  Emperor  Sigismund,  as  suzerain  of  Lor- 
raine. Sigismund  gave  his  voice  in  favor  of  Isabelle: 
Rene  took  the  oaths  of  allegiance,  and  proceeding  to  Nancy, 
was  feasted  by  the  inhabitants;  but  Philippe,  declaring 
that  this  decision  rose  out  of  unjust  partiality  for  Rene, 
who  was  nearly  related  to  the  House  of  Luxemburg,  re- 
fused to  abide  by  it,  and  summoned  him  to  return  to  his 
prison,  which  he  instantly  did,  turning  his  hst^ck  on  all  the 
pleasures  prepared  for  him  in  Lorraine. 

He  amused  himself  with  painting  a  window,  which  he 
presented  to  the  Cathedral  of  L)ijon,  but,  in  the  mean  time, 
intelligence  arrived  of  the  death  of  Giovanna  of  Naples, 


GOOD   KING   RENE.  175 

soon  after  she  had  adopted  him  as  her  son,  and  left  him  all 
her  kingdoms. 

Alfonso  v.,  King  of  Aragon,  and,  in  right  of  his  mother 
Maria,  King  of  Sicily,  was,  however,  resolved  to  conquer 
Naples,  and  had  blockaded  Gaeta.  The  town  suffered  so 
much  from  famine  that  all  the  women,  the  aged,  and  feeble 
were  turned  out,  lest  they  should  exhaust  the  provisions 
sooner.  Alfonso's  counsellors  advised  him  to  drive  these 
poor  creatures  back  again,  and  thus  increase  the  famine ;  but 
answering,  "  I  had  rather  never  take  the  place  than  fail  in 
humanity,"  he  caused  food  to  be  distributed  to  the  half- 
starved  fugitives,  and  let  them  pass  safely  through  his 
camp.  His  generosity  on  this  occasion  earned  for  him  the 
surname  of  El  Magnanimo. 

The  Genoese  and  Milanese,  as  allies  of  the  French,  sent 
a  fleet  to  raise  the  siege.  Alfonso  resisted  them  bravely, 
but  was  defeated,  and  after  fighting  like  a  lion  for  some 
time,  was  forced  to  suiTcnder,  so  that  both  the  claimants  of 
the  throne  of  Naples  were  prisoners  at  the  same  time. 
Rene,  on  hearing  of  the  victory,  sent  his  wife  Isabelle  to 
represent  him  at  Naples,  and  was  soon  after  set  at  liberty 
by  Philippe  of  Burgundy,  on  his  promising  to  leave  Lor- 
raine to  his  little  daughter  Yolande,  who  was  betrothed  to 
Ferry,  the  son  of  the  Count  de  Yaudemont. 

Alfonso  had,  in  the  mean  time,  been  taken  to  Milan, 
where  his  graceful  manners  so  won  upon  Filippo  Visconti, 
a  weak,  and  yet  a  violent  and  ferocious  man,  that  he  was 
suddenly  induced  to  set  him  at  liberty,  and  send  him  back 
to  Sicily.  He  reassembled  his  army,  and,  again  appearing 
before  Gaeta,  received  its  submission,  so  much  had  the 
hearts  of  the  citizens  been  gained  by  his  previous  generos- 
ity. He  next  laid  siege  to  Naples,  which  was  defended  by 
Rene  himself,  who  had  made  himself  already  so  much  be- 
loved, by  patiently  sharing  with  the  inhabitants  all  the  pri- 
vations of  the  siege,  that  they  were  all  resolved  to  hold  out 
for  him  to  the  very  last  gasp.  At  length,  however,  the 
Aragonese  discovered  the  same  old  aqueduct  by  which 
Belisarius  had  once  entered  Naples :  they  made  their  way 
into  the  town,  and  on  their  first  appearance  there  the  in- 
habitants fled  in  confusion.     Rene  shut  himself  up  in  Castel 


176  LANDMARKS    OP    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XI. 

ISTuovo,  whence  he  sailed  to  Provence,  giving  up  to  Alfonso 
his  few  remaining  towns,  in  order  that  his  friends  might 
not  have  to  endure  the  misfortunes  of  a  siege  for  his  sake. 

So  ended  the  struggling  and  disputed  rule  of  the  House 
of  Anjou  in  Naples,  which  had  begun  in  the  time  of  Charles, 
brother  of  St.  Louis ;  and  thus  the  Two  Sicilies  were  united 
under  the  dominion  of  Alfonso  of  Aragon. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  great  republican  and  Guelfic  city 
of  Florence,  which  had.  maintained  its  liberty  ever  since 
the  time  of  the  Emperor  Otho  I.,  was  beginning  to  allow  a 
tyranny  to  be  erected  by  the  family  of  Medici,  merchants 
of  immense  wealth  and  high  talent.  Cosmo  de  Medici, 
the  head  of  the  family,  without  holding  any  office  in  the 
State  himself,  governed  all  the  magistrates  and  officers,  and 
allowed  nothing  to  be  done  without  his  consent.  He  was 
very  generous  and  magnificent  in  his  habits ;  he  collected 
round  him  all  the  greatest  artists  and  poets  of  Italy,  and 
made  himself  universally  esteemed  and  admired,  though  he 
certainly  did  not  act  the  part  of  a  good  citizen. 

A  change  also  took  place  at  Milan.  Filippo  Maria  was 
the  last  of  the  House  of  Visconti,  founded  in  the  time  of 
Heinrich  of  Luxemburg  by  the  great  Matteo.  They  had 
been  a  wicked,  cruel,  bloodthirsty  race,  but  for  the  most 
part  men  of  great  activity  and  talent,  and  they  had  raised 
Slilan  to  the  first  rank  of  those  cities  of  Italy  which  had 
ceased  to  be  republics. 

Filippo  Maria  Visconti  gave  his  only  daughter  Bianca  in 
marriage  to  Francesco  Sforza.  This  Sforza  was  the  son  of 
a  soldier  of  Cotignola,  named  Sforza  Attendolo.  It  is  said 
that  Attendolo  was  a  peasant  at  work  in  his  fields,  when 
some  soldiers,  passing  by,  proposed  to  him  to  enlist  in  their 
company.  He  threw  his  spade  up  into  a  tree,  saying,  that 
if  it  fell  down  again  he  would  stay  where  he  was ;  if  it  re- 
mained in  the  tree,  he  would  go  with  them.  As  it  hung  in 
the  branches,  Sforza  Attendolo  became  a  soldier ;  his  talent 
and  courage  raised  him  to  the  command,  and  in  process  of 
time  he  rose  to  be  the  most  famous  Condottiere  in  Italy. 
He  fought  in  the  service  of  Queen  Giovanna  II.,  of  Naples, 
and  acquired  large  fiefs  in  her  kingdom ;  he  was  more  up- 
right, honorable,  and  merciful  than  most  men  of  his  class, 


HOUSE   OF   AVIS.  Ill 

and  after  a  gallant  career  was  drowned  in  attempting  to 
save  the  life  of  his  page.  His  son  Francesco  took  the  com- 
mand of  his  company,  and  became  of  so  much  considera- 
tion in  Italy  as  to  be  deemed  a  fit  match  for  Bianca  Vis- 
conti,  the  heiress  of  Milan.  Their  son,  Galeazzo  Sforza, 
Duke  of  Milan,  used  to  look  forth  on  the  fair  city,  and  say, 
"  See  what  I  owe  to  my  grandfather's  spade  !" 

PAKT   IV.       HOUSE    OF   AVIS.       1402-1470. 

The  peninsular  kingdoms  were  at  this  time  in  a  state  of 
great  prosperity,  all  excepting  Castile,  which  was  under 
Juan  II.,  a  weak  prince,  who  could  not  govern  alone,  and 
gave  all  his  confidence  to  Don  Alvaro  de  Luna,  whom  he 
made  Master  of  Santiago,  and  Constable  of  Castile.  Luna 
was  a  proud,  high-spirited  man  of  great  accomplishments, 
and  faithful  to  his  master,  but  haughty  and  overbearing. 
He  gave  offence  to  the  Castilians,  who,  with  the  king's  son 
Enrique,  Principe  de  las  Asturias,  at  their  head,  rose  agahist 
him,  and  frightened  the  king  into  giving  up  to  them  the 
fi-iend  who  had  served  him  faithfully  for  forty-five  years. 
Alvaro  de  Luna  was  publicly  executed ;  he  met  his  death 
with  great  dignity  and  patience,  and  when  his  head  was 
struck  off,  his  page  gave  so  piteous  a  cry  that  the  whole 
populace,  though  they  had  clamored  for  his  blood,  could 
not  help  joining  in  the  lamentation.  His  master,  Juan  II., 
never  recovered  his  grief  for  his  death,  and  died  soon  after, 
in  1454,  leaving  the  kingdom  to  his  son,  Enrique  IV.,  a  still 
weaker  and  more  foolish  prince. 

Portugal  had,  in  the  mean  time,  flourished  greatly  under 
Joao  I.  and  his  noble  English  Queen,  Philippa  of  Lancaster. 
They  had  four  sons,  Duarte,  Pedro,  Enrique,  and  Fernando, 
all  distinguished  men.  When  Philippa  was  dying,  she 
called  them  round  her  bed,  and  gave  them  each  a  sword, 
charging  them  to  fight  against  the  oppressors  of  the  widow 
and  orphan,  and  especially  against  the  Infidels.  They  well 
obeyed  her ;  while  their  grief  for  her  loss  was  still  fresh, 
they  sailed  for  Africa,  and  took  the  town  of  Ceuta  from 
the  Moors,  turned  the  Mosque  into  a  Cathedral,  and  gave 
the  command  to  Dom  Pedro  de  Menezes,  a  knight  of  such 

8* 


1V8  LAi^DMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  XI. 

noted  loyalty  that  tlie  king  would  not  receive  from  him  the 
oath  of  fidelity,  saying  it  was  not  needed. 

Joao  died,  much  beloved,  in  1422.  Duarte  succeeded  his 
father,  and  Enrique  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  science 
and  navigation.  He  built  an  observatory  near  Cape  St. 
Vincent,  studied  the  stars,  and  made  several  expeditions  by 
sea,  hoping  to  discover  unknown  lands  to  the  west,  to  ex- 
tend his  brother's  power,  and  to  spread  the  knowledge  of 
the  Gospel.  He  was  the  first  in  the  track  of  discovery, 
and  the  founder  of  the  greatness  of  Portugal,  and  well  he 
deserves  the  name  of  the  Wise  Infante,  Dom  Enrique. 

Yet  the  Infante  Fernando  has  a  still  nobler  name,  earned 
by  his  constancy  in  suffering.  Early  in  1436,  the  two  In- 
fantes, Enrique  and  Fernando,  led  an  expedition  to  attempt 
the  conquest  of  Tangier,  but  the  King  of  Fez  came  doAvn 
upon  them  with  an  overwhelming  force,  their  plans  were 
betrayed  by  a  wicked  priest,  and  their  retreat  was  cut  off. 
They  fought  gallantly  in  defence  of  their  camp,  but  their 
force  was  so  small  in  comparison  with  the  number  of  Moors, 
that  all  resistance  was  vain,  and  they  resolved  to  offer  a 
favorable  treaty  to  the  King  of  Fez,  provided  he  would 
allow  the  army  to  depart  in  safety.  Fernando  voluntarily 
offered  himself  as  a  hostage,  provided  his  brother  and  the 
other  Portuguese  were  allowed  to  depart. 

They  went,  and  he  remained  a  prisoner,  the  price  of  his 
ransom  being  the  town  of  Ceuta,  which  King  Duarte,  the 
Portuguese,  and  the  noble  Fernando  himself,  all  deemed 
too  important  to  the  kingdom  to  be  parted  with.  Enraged 
at  their  resistance,  the  Moorish  king  threw  Fernando  into 
a  dark  dungeon,  and  made  him  labor  in  fetters  as  a  slave ; 
but  still  by  no  letter  nor  entreaty  would  he  desire  his  brother 
to  buy  his  release  by  the  surrender  of  Ceuta.  Duarte  tried 
to  fit  out  an  armament  to  deliver  him,  but  the  plague,  which 
was  raging  in  Portugal,  made  this  impossible,  and  in  1438 
Duarte  himself  caught  the  infection,  and  died  in  his  thirty- 
eighth  year,  leaving  a  young  son  six  years  of  age,  Af- 
fonso  V. 

The  Queen  Dona  Leonor,  and  the  second  brother,  the 
Infante  Dom  Pedro,  began  to  dispute  about  the  regency, 
and  the  wise  Enrique,  who  was  ambitious  of  no  selfish  power, 


CARLOS    OF   NAVARRE.  179 

putting  his  own  rights  out  of  the  question,  strove  in  vain  to 
make  peace  between  them.  The  noble  Fernando  was  for- 
gotten, and  after  seven  years'  captivity,  died  in  his  dungeon, 
of  the  sufferings  he  had  undergone  so  patiently  and  firmly, 
that  the  Moors  said  of  him,  "  It  was  a  pity  such  a  good  man 
was  not  a  Mahometan,"  and  he  is  known  in  his  own  country 
by  the  glorious  title  of  El  Principe  Constante,  the  constant 
prince. 

Dom  Pedro  gained  the  power  over  young  Alfonso,  and 
did  not  make  a  bad  use  of  it,  though  he  retained  it  longer 
than  he  ought  after  the  king  grew  up.  At  last  Afibnso 
grew  impatient  of  his  rule,  and  was  stiiTed  up  by  his  cous- 
in, the  Duke  of  Braganza,  to  attack  him.  Enrique  inter- 
fered without  success,  and  Pedro  was  killed  in  battle. 

Enrique  died  in  a  good  old  age,  in  1460,  in  his  observa- 
tory at  Cape  St.  Vincent.  He  first  discovered,  and  took 
possession  in  the  name  of  Portugal,  of  the  Azores,  or  West- 
ern Isles,  and  his  discoveries  led  to  other  voyages. 

PART  V.      CARLOS    OF   NAVARRE.       1443-1469. 

The  great  power  of  Alfonso  V.  of  Aragon  in  Italy,  has 
already  been  mentioned.  He  was  a  man  of  great  chivalry 
and  generosity,  with  many  brilliant  qualities,  very  learned, 
and  remarkable  for  his  coolness  and  courage.  He  was  hear- 
ing Mass  at  Naples,  when  a  violent  shock  of  an  earthquake 
made  every  one  flee  out  of  the  church,  excepting  the  king, 
who  held  the  priest  fast,  and  forced  him  to  remain  and  fin- 
ish the  service.  His  liberality,  too,  was  very  great.  He 
had  one  day  just  received  a  thousand  ducats  from  his  treas- 
urer, when  a  man  standing  by  exclaimed,  "  Such  a  sum 
would  make  me  a  happy  man  !"  "  Be  happy,"  said  the 
king,  handing  him  the  money. 

When  Frederick  HI.  of  Germany  came  to  Italy  to  be 
crowned,  he  came  to  visit  Alfonso  ;  and  when  it  was  repre- 
sented that  it  was  beneath  the  dignity  of  an  emperor  to 
ay  the  first  visit  to  a  king,  he  answered,  "  No,  not  to  a 
ing  whose  personal  qualities  set  him  above  all  the  princes 
in  the  world." 

Yet  this  brilliant  Alfonso  carried  a  secret  and  bitter  sor- 


I 


180  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XI. 

row  at  his  heart,  and  all  his  great  enterprises  were  for  the 
sake  of  forgetting  his  grief,  one  mixed  with  sin  to  give  it 
poignancy.  He  had  unlawfully  loved  a  beautiful  lady, 
named  Marguerita  de  Hijar,  who  had  been  poisoned  by  his 
wife,  Leonor  of  Castile,  and  died,  leaving  him  one  child, 
named  Fernando.  Alfonso  never  shook  off  his  grief  for 
Marguerita,  and,  as  he  had  no  other  child,  he  set  all  his 
affections  on  her  son,  whom  he  resolved  to  make  King  of 
Naples  and  Sicily,  and  all  his  endeavors  in  his  latter  years 
were  directed  to  making  the  other  powers  in  Italy  consent 
to  the  establishment  of  Fernando  at  Naples. 

Alfonso  died  in  1458,  and  his  brother  Juan  became  King 
of  Aragon,  while  Fernando  took  the  crown  of  the  Two 
Sicilies.  Jean  of  Anjou,  called  the  Duke  of  Calabria,  eld- 
est son  of  King  Rene,  came  to  assert  his  father's  rights,  but 
he  could  not  prevail,  and  was  obliged  to  return  to  France. 
Fernando  was,  however,  a  weak,  ungrateful  man,  who  of- 
fended every  one  in  Italy,  and  soon  lost  Sicily,  which  was 
joined  to  the  crown  of  Aragon,  while  he  retained  only 
Naples. 

The  King  of  Aragon,  Juan  II.,  had  been  twice  married. 
His  first  wife  was  Blanca,  Queen  of  Navarre,  who  died, 
leaving  three  children,  Carlos,  Principe  de  la  Viana,  and 
the  Infantas  Blanca  and  Leonor.  His  second  wife,  Juana 
Enriquez,  brought  him  one  son,  Fernando,  for  whose  sake 
she  hated  her  step-children  most  bitterly. 

Carlos  should  of  course  have  been  King  of  Navarre,  after 
his  mother's  death,  but  the  old  King  Juan  would  not  give 
up  the  title  or  the  power  to  him.  The  Navarrese  clamored 
for  Carlos  as  their  true  king,  and  the  Catalonians,  who  had 
reason  to  think  their  young  prince  was  cruelly  treated,  rose 
in  rebellion.  Juan  offered  to  make  a  treaty ;  he  met  his 
subjects  at  Barcelona,  set  his  son  at  liberty,  and  promised 
to  give  him  the  power  that  was  his  due ;  but  before  part- 
ing with  him,  he  caused  Carlos  to  be  poisoned,  and  after  a 
few  days'  illness  he  died. 

Blanca  became  Queen  of  Navarre,  but  her  father  sent 
her  to  her  sister  Leonor,  Countess  de  Foix,  who,  desirous  of 
securing  Navarre  to  her  own  son  Gaston,  poisoned  her  also. 
These  dreadful  crimes  so  enraged  the  Catalonians,  that  they 


TllE    BATTLE    OF   VARNA.  181 

broke  out  into  a  second  rebellion,  and  called  in,  as  their 
king,  Jean  of  Anjou,  Rene's  son,  whose  grandmother  had 
been  an  Aragonese  princess.  Jean  took  Gerona,  and  won  a 
battle  at  Barcelona,  but  he  was  overcome  by  the  heat  of 
the  climate  and  by  his  great  exertions,  and  died  at  Barce- 
lona in  1460,  much  regretted,  for  he  was  as  honorable  and 
chivalrous  as  his  father,  with  greater  talent  and  better  suc- 
cess. He  left  two  sons,  who  both  died  young,  at  their 
grandfather's  court  at  Provence,  where  old  Rene  lived  with 
his  widowed  daughter,  Margaret,  who  bore  the  ruin  of  the 
cause  of  Lancaster,  and  tlie  loss  of  her  son  and  her  crown, 
with  far  less  patience  than  he  showed. 

His  other  daughter,  Yolande,  was  also  dead,  leaving  a 
son  named  Rene,  who  inherited  from  his  father,  the  Count 
de  Vaudemont,  the  blood  of  Charlemagne  in  a  direct  line, 
and  through  her  became  Duke  of  Lorraine,  with  claims  to 
all  old  Rene's  empty  titles.  He  was  the  founder  of  the 
Houses  of  Lorraine  and  Guise,  which  became  very  famous 
in  French  and  German  history. 

The  Emperof  Sigismund  died  in  14.3&,  leaving  a  daughter 
married  to  Albrecht  von  Hapsburg,  Duke  of  Austria,  who 
was  elected  as  his  successor ;  and  since  that  time  the 
House  of  Hapsburg  have  continued  uninterruptedly  to  be 
the  imperial  line.  Albrecht  died,  after  a  reign  of  two 
years,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  cousin,  Frederick  lY.,  a 
generous,  amiable  man,  but  without  much  talent  or  con- 
sistency. Albrecht  left  an  infant  son,  named  Ladislas,  who 
became  King  of  Hungary  under  the  regency  of  the  brave 
general,  John  Corvinus  Hunniades.  The  Bohemians  elected 
a  king  of  their  own,  named  George  Podiebrad. 


PART   VI.       THE   BATTLE    OF    VARNA.       1446. 

The  Othmans  at  Adrianople,  who  had  recovered  the  death 
of  Bajazet,  began  so  to  threaten  the  remaining  fragments 
of  the  Greek  empire  that  the  emperor,  John  Palseologos, 
resolved  to  make  another  last  attempt  to  obtain  the  aid  of 
the  Western  princes,  by  reconciling  himself  to  the  Church 
of  Rome. 


182  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  XI. 

The  Church  of  Rome  was,  however,  herself  in  no  united 
state;  the  persons  desirous  of  reformation,  finding  that 
their  views  were  not  carried  out  at  the  Council  of  Constance, 
had  formed  what  they  called  a  fresh  Council  at  Basle,  de- 
posed the  real  Pope,  Eugenius  II.,  and  set  up  as  Antipope 
old  Amadee,  Duke  of  Savoy,  who  had  resigned  his  duchy 
to  his  son. 

The  Italians,  and  the  chief  countries  of  Europe,  all  held 
with  Eugenius,  and  it  was  to  him  that  John  Palseologos 
came,  bringing  with  him  as  many  Greek  bishops  as  he 
could  collect,  some  of  whom  bore  the  honored  old  titles  of 
Patriarchs  of  Ephesus,  Sardis,  Nicea,  and  the  other  very 
old  Asiatic  churches,  though  their  bishoprics  were  now  in 
the  possession  of  the  Mahometans,  and  St.  John's  prophecy 
of  the  removal  of  the  candlestick  was  grievously  fulfilled. 
After  a  year  of  discussion,  they  at  length  came  to  an  agree- 
ment, and  on  the  6th  of  July,  1439,  the  decree  of  union  be- 
tween the  two  Churches  was  read  both  in  Greek  and  Latin, 
and  Mass  celebrated  in  both  languages;  Bessarion,  of 
Nicea,  the  most  learned  of  the  Greek  bishops,  was  made  a 
cardinal,  and  John  Palaeologos  returned  to  Constantinople ; 
but  there  the  clergy,  finding  that  they  had  promised  to  ac- 
knowledge the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  and  the  supremacy 
of  the  Pope,  would  not  receive  the  act  of  union,  and  thus 
failed  this  last  attempt  at  putting  an  end  to  the  unhappy 
schism  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches. 

The  Pope  did  not,  however,  forget  his  promise  to  send 
help  to  the  Greek  emperor.  He  collected  a  troop  of  Cru- 
saders, equipped  by  Duke  Philippe  of  Burgundy,  the  King 
of  France,  and  the  Venetians,  and  sent  them  to  the  aid  of 
the  emperor  and  his  allies,  young  Ladislas  of  Hungary, 
and  George  Castriotes,  Lord  of  Croia,  in  Albania,  or 
Epirus,  the  mountain-land  of  Pyrrhus. 

George  Castriotes  had,  when  nine  years  old,  been  given 
into  the  hands  of  the  Turks  as  a  hostage  by  his  father. 
They  had  kept  him  prisoner,  had  circumcised  him,  and 
brought  him  up,  as  they  thought,  in  Mahometanism.  He 
had  served  in  their  armies  with  such  success  that  they  had 
given  him  the  surname  of  Iskander  Beg,  meaning  Lord 
Alexander;    but  he  was  all  the  time  devising  means  of 


THE  BATTLE  OF  VARNA.  183 

joining  his  own  Albanian  countrymen,  and  returning  to 
the  Christian  faith.  At  last,  when  he  thought  the  time 
was  come,  he  suddenly  escaped  into  Albania,  called  the 
Greeks  round  his  standard,  massacred  all  the  Turks  in  the 
country,  and  succeeded  in  repelling  all  the  armies  sent 
against  him  from  Adrianople.  In  the  whole  course  of  his- 
tory Epirus  has  only  produced  two  great  men,  Pyrrhus 
and  Skanderbeg. 

The  Pope  having  collected  his  force,  sent  it,  under  the 
command  of  Cardinal  Giuliano  Cesarini,  to  the  assistance 
of  Ladislas  of  Hungary ;  but  on  the  arrival  of  this  force, 
the  cardinal  was  extremely  mortified  by  finding  that  Ladis- 
las and  his  adviser,  Hunniades,  had  just  concluded  a  truce 
for  ten  years  with  the  Sultan  Amurath,  so  that  nothing 
could  be  done,  and  their  crusade  was  useless. 

Giuliano,-  unwilling  to  be  disappointed,  persuaded  the 
Hungarians  that  treaties  with  infidels  ought  never  to  be 
ol)served,  and  that  he  had  authority  from  the  Pope  to  re- 
lease them  from  their  oaths.  They  listened,  and  were  led 
astray;  they  broke  the  truce  and  entered  the  Turkish 
territory,  but  they  were  severely  punished  for  their  want 
of  faith.  Amurath  himself  led  an  overwhelming  force 
against  them,  and  met  them  at  Varna,  on  the  Danube. 
Ladislas  and  the  cardinal  were  resolved  on  giving  battle, 
contrary  to  the  advice  of  John  Hunniades,  and  the  young 
king  at  first  attacked  the  enemy  with  such  fury  that  they 
gave  way,  and  Amurath,  thinking  all  lost,  would  have  fled, 
if  the  Janissaries,  knowing  that  this  would  be  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  army,  had  not  held  his  horse  so  that  he  could 
not  escape.  It  is  said  that  he  stretched  out  his  hands,  and 
called  on  Him  by  whose  name  the  Christians  had  sworn  to 
the  treaty,  to  punish  their  perfidy.  Ladislas  rode  violently 
against  the  Janissaries  around  the  Sultan,  and  tried  to  fight 
his  way  through  them,  but  he  was  surrounded  and  slain, 
and  one  of  them,  cutting  off  his  head,  raised  it  on  a  spear, 
crying  out,  "  Christians,  behold  your  king !"  This  sight 
put  the  Christians  into  confusion ;  they  fled  ;  hosts  of  them 
were  drowned  in  the  Danube,  among  whom  was  Giuliano 
Cesarini,  and  John  Hunniades  could  with  difficulty  save  a 
small    number  of  Hungarians.      He  withdrew  to  Buda,' 


184  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  XI. 

where  he  was  soon  after  crowned  King  of  Hungary,  in  the 
year  1452. 

Skanderbeg,  who  had  not  had  time  to  join  the  army, 
continued  his  gallant  defence  of  Albania,  uniting  himself 
with  the  Sclavonic  princes  of  Bulgaria  and  Wallachia. 

PART   VII.       FALL   OF   THE    GREEK   EMPIRE.       1450-1453. 

John  Pal^ologos  died  in  1450,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
brother,  Constantine  XIII.  Amurath  died  in  1451,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Mahomet  II.  Constantine  was 
the  last  and  best  of  his  race,  worthy  to  be  the  last  wearer 
of  the  purple  and  diadem  of  Constantine  the  Great  and 
Theodosius,  and  to  give  the  long  decaying  Empire  of  the 
East  the  last  and  the  purest  lustre  of  patience  in  adversity. 
Mahomet  was  such  a  conqueror  as  might,  by  his  talent,  his 
daring,  and  his  violence,  well  fulfil  the  fierce  decrees  of 
Islam,  the  religion  of  the  sword. 

In  the  third  year  of  his  reign,  Mahomet  advanced  upon 
Constantinople,  bringing  such  enormous  cannon  as  never 
have  been  used  before  or  since.  The  Greeks,  reduced  to 
despair,  were  resolved  to  fight  to  the  last :  the  Venetians, 
who  inhabited  the  suburbs,  joined  with  them  heart  and 
hand,  and  the  emperor  sustained  their  spirits  with  hopes 
of  succor  from  the  West ;  but  the  Genoese,  who  could  not 
even  at  such  a  moment  lay  aside  their  jealousy  of  the  Vene- 
tians, betrayed  their  plans  to  the  Sultan.  The  walls  were 
broken,  the  ships  of  the  enemy  filled  the  port,  and  while 
Constantine  on  one  side  declared  that  he  would  die  rather 
than  yield,  Mahomet  vowed  that  Stamcoul*  should  be 
either  his  throne  or  his  tomb. 

On  the  28th  of  May,  1453,  the  loud-chanted  cry  of  the 
Turks,  Allah  il  Allah,  warned  the  Christians  that  they 
were  preparing  for  the  assault  the  next  day.  Late  at  night 
Constantine  on  his  side  called  his  faithful  friends  together, 
and  said  to  them,  "  Though  my  heart  is  full,  I  can  speak  to 
you  no  longer.  There  is  the  crown  which  I  hold  from 
God ;  I  place  it  in  your  hands ;  I  intrust  it  to  you.  I  fight 
to  deserve  it  still,  or  to  die  in  defending  it."     They  all  burst 

*  The  Turkish  way  of  pronouncing  Constantinople. 


FALL    OF   THE    GREEK    EMPIRE.  185 

into  tears,  and  he,  waiting  till  his  voice  could  again  be 
heard,  said,  "  Comrades,  this  is  our  fairest  day  !"  He  then 
with  them  received  the  Holy  Communion  at  St.  Sophia, 
after  which  he  turned  to  the  assembled  crowd,  and  im- 
plored them  to  pardon  him  for  not  liaving  been  able  to 
make  them  happy,  and  to  forgive  his  faults.  They 
answered  with  sobs  and  teai-s,  and  then  the  last  Emperor  of 
the  East,  for  the  last  time,  mounted  his  horse  at  the  gate  of 
the  Blachernal  Palace,  to  which  he  was  never  to  return,  for 
the  last  day  of  Christianity  at  Constantinople  had  passed. 

He  rode  round  the  ramparts,  where  all  was  silent  except 
the  sound  caused  by  the  waves  dashing  against  the  war- 
like machines  of  Mahomet,  and  by  daylight  he  was  at  the 
beach.  The  Turks  attacked  in  early  morning,  and  the 
combat  raged  half  the  day.  At  last  Hassan,  a  gigantic 
Turk,  followed  by  thuty  others,  climbed  up  the  breach : 
the  Greeks  hurled  them  down,  but  they  had  shown  the 
way ;  numbers  crowded  after  them,  and  the  Greeks,  strug- 
gling and  fighting  gallantly,  were  borne  backward  by  the 
host.  Constantine,  covered  with  blood,  was  seen  fighting 
in  the  midst  of  the  press,  and  the  last  time  his  voice  was 
heard,  was  in  the  despairing  cry,  "  Can  I  not  find  a  Chris- 
tian who  will  cut  off  my  head !" 

The  Greeks  saw  him  no  more.  They  were  hemmed  in 
and  cut  down  on  all  sides ;  the  women  and  children  who 
had  taken  I'efuge  in  St.  Sophia,  were  seized  for  slaves ;  the 
Turks  rushed  through  the  streets  plundering,  burning,  and 
slaughtering.  Mahomet  rode  in  triumph  through  the 
Golden  Gate,  and  going  to  the  noble  Blachernal  Palace, 
took  it  for  his  own.  He  was  so  struck  with  the  silence  of 
its  desolate  halls,  that  he  exclaimed  in  two  lines  of  Per- 
sian poetry,  "  The  spider  hath  woven  her  web  in  the  palace 
of  kings ;  the  owl  hath  sung  her  watch-song  in  the  towers 
of  Afrasiab !" 

,  He  bade  search  to  be  made  for  the  body  of  Constantine, 
which  at  length  was  found,  as  well  befitted  the  last  of  the 
Roman  emperors,  sword  in  hand,  beneath  a  heap  of  slain, 
and  so  disfigured,  that  it  was  only  recognized  by  the  golden 
eagles  embroidered  on  the  buskins. 

St.  Sophia,  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Wisdom  of  God,  was, 


186  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XI. 

as  the  Turks  deemed,  purified  with  rose-water ;  the  altar, 
the  shrines,  the  paintings,  were  swept  away,  and  the  build- 
ing which  the  great  Constantine  had  founded,  and  where 
Justinian  boasted  of  having  surpassed  Solomon,  became 
forbidden  ground  to  the  Christians,  and  resounded  only  to 
the  praise  of  Allah  and  the  blasphemer  Mahomet. 

Yet  the  Mahometans  to  this  very  day  feel  as  if  their 
conquest  was  not  their  own,  and  keep  the  Golden  Gate 
walled  up,  because  tradition  declares  that  through  it  will 
enter  the  Christian  conqueror  who  shall  deliver  the  second 
Rome,  the  city  of  Constantine,  from  the  yoke  of  the  Infidel. 

PART   VIII.       CONQUEST    OF   GREECE.       1453-1478. 

After  the  loss  of  Constantinople,  and  the  death  of  the 
emperor,  the  few  remaining  fragments  of  the  Greek  empire 
soon  fell  into  the  hands  of  Mahomet  II.  Trebizond,  where 
some  of  the  Comneni  had  established  a  petty  empire,  sur- 
rendered to  him ;  the  petty  princes  of  the  Morea  also  gave 
up  their  independence,  and  Albania  alone  still  continued 
unsubdued,  well  guarded  by  the  gallant  George  Castriotes, 
who  had  allied  himself  with  the  Pope  and  the  Venetians, 
as  well  as  with  the  brave  Hungarian  king,  Matthias  Cor- 
vinus. 

Matthias  saw  the  only  way  to  guard  his  frontier  was  by 
incessant  watchfulness,  and  along  the  bank  of  the  Danube 
he  established  posts,  where  parties  of  soldiers,  trained  all 
their  life  for  the  purpose,  have  ever  since  his  time  kept 
watch  and  ward  against  the  Turks,  never  ceasing  their 
vigilance  by  day  or  night,  but  ready  at  the  first  token  of  a 
foray  of  the  enemy,  to  raise  the  whole  Christian  force  of 
the  country.  Their  watch  has  lasted  four  hundred  years, 
and  all  that  time  has  guarded  Christian  Europe  from  the 
inroad  of  the  wild  Mahometan. 

The  Pope  was  at  this  time  ^nea  Silvio  Piccolomini, 
who  called  himself  Pius  II.,  one  of  the  best,  most  learned, 
and  faithful  men  who  had  sat  in  the  chair  of  St.  Peter 
since  the  days  when  the  Bishops  of  Rome  were  saints  and 
martyrs.  lie  honestly  strove  to  make  peace  in  Italy,  and 
to  keep  back  the  Mahometans,  instead  of  trying  to  heap  up 


FALL    OP   THE    GREEK    EMPIRE.  187 

riches  for  his  own  family ;  but  even  his  measures  for  the 
good  cause  of  driving  back  the  Turks,  show  how  sadly- 
perverted  men's  minds  had  become,  since  he  raised  money 
for  an  expedition  against  Mahomet  by  the  sale  of  in- 
dulgences, and  induced  Skanderbeg  to  break  his  oaths 
toward  the  enemy,  when  he  had  made  peace  with  them. 
The  Pope  made  an  alliance  with  the  Venetians,  and  ap- 
pointed to  meet  them  at  Ancona,  to  head  a  crusade  against 
the  Infidel  in  his  own  person.  He  said  that  though  he 
could  not  fight  himself,  yet  he  would  look  upon  the  battle, 
and  stretch  out  his  hands  in  prayer  like  Moses,  that  they 
might  prevail ;  and  though  very  old,  and  suffering  from  a 
low  fever,  he  set  out  for  the  place  of  embarkation. 

The  Doge  of  Venice,  Cristoforo  Moro,  who  was  also  a 
very  old  man,  was  not  equally  willing  to  undertake  the 
voyage,  but  the  Venetians  obliged  him  to  embark,  politely 
saying  to  him,  "Most  serene  prince,  if  your  serenity  will 
not  embark  with  a  good  will,  you  shall  be  made  to  do  so 
by  force,  for  we  prize  the  honor  and  welfare  of  the  repub- 
lic more  than  your  person." 

The  Pope  had,  in  the  mean  time,  arrived  at  Ancona,  but 
he  found  his  army  in  a  miserable  state,  and  without  means 
of  subsistence,  so  that  he  was  obliged  to  dismiss  all  who 
were  not  properly  equipped.  He  waited  for  the  Venetian 
fleet  to  transport  him  to  Greece,  his  illness  increasing  all 
the  time,  and  when  at  length  it  came  in  sight  he  felt  him- 
self dying,  and  exclaimed :  "  Hitherto  the  fleet  has  failed 
me,  now  I  fail  the  fleet !"  and  he  died  the  next  day.  This 
put  an  end  to  the  expedition ;  the  cardinals  went  back  to 
Kome  to  choose  a  new  Pope,  and  Paul  H.,  whom  they 
elected,  fell  into  the  usual  selfish  policy  of  Rome,  and 
thoughi  no  more  of  the  war  with  the  Moslem,  while  the 
Venetians  gave  their  sole  attention  to  the  protection  of 
their  own  dominions,  and  of  the  isle  of  Cyprus. 

The  kings  of  the  line  of  Lusignan  had  reigned  there  ever 
since  it  had  been  given  by  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  to  Guy, 
King  of  Jerusalem,  until  1475,  when  the  Venetians  drove 
out  the  rightful  queen,  Charlotte  de  Lusignan,  and  set  up 
in  her  stead  Caterina  Cornaro,  a  Venetian  lady,  widow  of 
the  last  king,  whom  they  had  adopted  as  the  daughter  of 


188  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XI. 

the  republic  of  St.  Mark.  They  governed  the  island  in 
Caterina's  name  for  some  years,  and  at  last  carried  her  off 
to  Venice,  gave  her  a  little  castle  for  her  own,  and  took 
Cyprus  for  their  own  possession,  setting  up  the  Lion  of  St. 
Mark  on  the  towers  of  Famagosta  and  Limisso. 

George  Castriotes  continued  his  brave  defence  of  Albania 
till  1466,  when  he  was  seized  by  a  violent  fever  at  Alyssio, 
and  finding  he  could  not  recover,  he  called  his  warriors 
round  him,  and  took  leave  of  them,  putting  them  in  mind 
of  the  toils  he  had  shared  with  them,  rather  as  their  friend 
than  as  their  prince.  In  the  midst,  there  was  an  outcry 
that  the  Turks  were  foraying  the  country  round,  and  burn- 
ing the  villages:  the  brave  George  called  for  his  armor, 
and  tried  to  rise  and  put  it  on,  but  he  was  too  weak;  and 
sinking  back,  he  desired  his  friends  to  hasten  to  the  attack, 
saying  he  should  soon  be  able  to  follow  them.  The  Turks, 
seeing  his  banner,  thought  he  must  be  at  the  head  of  their 
opponents,  and  fled  in  confusion,  losing  many  men  in  the 
narrow  mountain  passes.  He  just  lived  to  hear  of  the  suc- 
cess of  his  friends,  and  died  in  his  sixty-sixth  year,  leaving 
behind  him  the  fame  of  having  been  for  twenty  years  the 
bulwark  of  Christendom  ;  and  so  much  was  his  valor  hon- 
ored by  the  Turks,  that  when  twelve  years  after  they  took 
Alyssio,  they  disinterred  his  body,  divided  the  bones,  and 
wore  them  about  their  persons  in  cases  of  silver  or  gold,  as 
talismans  to  secure  victory.  His  battle-steed  never  allowed 
himself  to  be  mounted  by  any  other  person,  became  wild 
and  ferocious,  and  died  a  few  weeks  after  him. 

The  Albanians  could  not  long  hold  out  after  the  loss  of 
their  "  Alexander ;"  they  were  conquered,  and  suffered  fear- 
ful massacres ;  the  whole  of  Greece  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Turks,  and  Mahometanism  prevailed  everywhere  except 
in  the  mountain  monasteries,  founded  a  thousand  years  be- 
fore, in  the  most  inaccessible  places  among  the  rocks  and 
hills — fortresses,  from  the  strength  of  their  walls,  and,  from 
tlieir  situation,  incapable  of  being  attacked.  Mount  Athos, 
further  guarded  by  its  stormy  seas,  entirely  belonged  to 
these  old  convents,  which  defied  all  the  attacks  of  the 
Turks,  as  calmly  as,  almost  two  thousand  years  before,  the 
solid  rock  defied  the  threat  of  the  Persian  monarch  to  cut 


INROADS    OF    MAHOMET   II.  189 

it  down,  and  throw  it  into  the  sea.  Oppressed  and  perse- 
cuted, crushed,  and  without  learning  or  power,  the  Greek 
Church  has  existed  in  steady  constancy  to  her  long-tried 
faith,  training  up  her  children  in  the  mountains  and  valleys 
of  the  rugged  soil,  and  shining  with  a  clear  steadfast  light 
in  darkness,  more  pure,  though  less  brilliant,  than  the 
boasted  glories  of  ancient  Athens  and  Sparta. 

One  narrow  rocky  strip  of  land,  on  the  Adriatic  coast, 
called  Montenegro,  or  the  Black  Mountain,  from  the  hor- 
rors it  has  suffered  from  the  attacks  of  the  Turks,  has 
maintained  its  freedom  unbroken,  under  the  government  of 
a  succession  of  warlike  bishops,  who,  in  a  strange  manner, 
have  been  at  once  the  princes,  pastors,  and  generals  of  their 
people. 

PART   IX.       INROADS    OF    MAHOMET   II.       14*78-1481. 

Italy  had  become  the  frontier  State  against  the  Mahom- 
etans, and  her  danger  was  fearful,  more  especially  as  her 
princes  were  engaged  in  violent  quarrels  among  themselves 
instead  of  in  making  head  against  the  common  foe. 

The  family  of  Medici  had  continued  to  grow  in  power 
at  Florence,  and  in  14*78  the  whole  city  was  under  the  do- 
minion of  two  brothers,  Lorenzo  and  Giuliano  dei  Medici, 
very  young  men,  grandsons  of  the  great  Cosmo,  called 
the  elder.  They  were  very  learned,  of  gracious  manners, 
magnificent  habits,  and  patrons  of  all  the  arts  which  were 
flourishing  in  Italy — painting,  sculpture,  and  music  ;  but 
some  of  the  Florentine  citizens,  who  had  been  deprived  of 
their  power  and  influence,  hated  them  extremely.  A  family 
named  Pazzi  formed  a  plot  for  murdering  them  both,  and 
drew  into  it  the  Archbishop  of  Florence,  and  the  Pope, 
Sixtus  IV.  It  was  the  object  of  the  conspirators  to  kill 
both  at  once,  and  three  times  they  were  invited  to  feasts, 
where  it  was  intended  to  despatch  them,  but  Giuliano  each 
time  stayed  away  in  consequence  of  illness. 

At  last  there  was  to  be  a  solemn  service  at  the  Cathedral, 
from  which  he  could  not  well  absent  himself,  and  it  was 
resolved  that  the  blow  should  there  be  struck.  The 
soldiers,  however,  who   had  undertaken  to   be   assassins, 


190  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XI. 

shrunk  from  the  additional  guilt  of  sacrilege,  and  the 
crime  was  now  committed  to  certain  priests,  who,  from 
more  constantly  and  irreverently  dealing  with  holy  things, 
had  lost  all  awe,  and  would  murder  in  a  church  as  readily 
as  anywhere  else.  The  brothers  came  to  the  Cathedral, 
and,  as  they  knelt  before  the  altar,  Francesco  dei  Pazzi 
struck  Giuliano  such  a  furious  blow,  as  not  only  to  kill  him, 
but  to  wound  himself  with  his  own  sword.  A  priest  at 
the  same  time  attacked  Lorenzo,  but  only  wounded  him 
slightly  in  the  neck :  Lorenzo  sprung  up,  drew  his  sword, 
and,  throwing  his  cloak  round  his  arm  for  a  shield,  fought 
his  way,  together  with  his  friends,  to  the  sacristy,  from 
whence  he  was  guarded  to  his  own  house. 

The  people  rose  in  fury  on  hearing  of  this  attack ;  they 
seized  the  conspirators,  and  hung  them  all  from  the  win- 
dows of  the  council  chamber,  even  the  archbishop  himself. 
For  this  the  Pope  excommunicated  the  Florentines,  and, 
allying  himself  with  the  other  States  of  Italy,  sent  his 
forces  to  invade  their  territory.  After  a  time,  Lorenzo, 
going  to  Naples,  made  his  peace  with  King  Ferdinando,  and 
Sixtus,  finding  himself  deserted  by  his  ally,  was  obliged  to 
be  reconciled  to  Florence,  and  then  they  all  joined  to- 
gether against  the  Venetians.  Sixtus  had  a  number  of 
nephews  for  whom  he  wished  to  provide,  and  he  was  the 
first  pope  guilty  of  what  was  called  nepotism — that  is  to 
say,  of  unjust  favor  to  his  own  relations.  It  was  for  their 
sake  that  he  kept  up  a  war  with  the  Venetians,  who  ought 
to  have  been  supported  and  aided  by  all  Christendom  in 
their  defence  against  the  Turks.  The  Venetians  took  into 
their  service  a  number  of  refugee  Albanians  and  other 
Greeks,  who,  from  the  Greek  word  stratiotes^  a  soldier, 
were  called  Stradiots,  and  became  a  very  celebrated  corps 
in  the  Venetian  wars.  They  equipped  fleets  and  sent  them 
on  expeditions  against  the  coasts  of  the  Turkish  dominions  : 
but  these  voyages  were  stained  with  horrible  cruelties, 
since  a  reward  was  promised  by  government  for  the  head 
of  every  Mussulman ;  and  in  order  to  obtain  it,  the  sailors, 
in  their  descents  on  the  coast,  used  to  kill  a  number  of  the 
poor  innocent  oppressed  Greek  Christians,  and  bring  in 
their  heads  as  those  of  Turks. 


IXKOADS    OF    MAHOMET    II.  191 

War  became  doubly  savage  from  the  time  of  the  arrival 
of  the  0th  mans  in  Europe,  and  the  Italian  soldiery  were 
fast  becoming  infected  with  their  cruelty. 

The  inroads  of  the  Turks  were  frightful ;  they  were  like 
an  advancing  tide  swallowing  all  before  it.  First  they 
would  send  a  troop  to  ravage  the  country,  burn  the  villages 
and  crops,  and  kill  or  seize  as  slaves  all  who  could  not  es- 
cape :  then  when  the  destruction  was  complete,  they  would 
retreat,  bearing  off  their  plunder,  but  only  to  return  as  soon 
as  the  place  had  by  any  means  recovered  the  desolation ; 
and  when,  by  thus  laying  it  waste,  they  had  entirely  broken 
its  strength,  the  army  would  more  regularly  invade  it,  and 
with  their  immense  irresistible  cannon  batter  down  the 
walls  of  the  fortified  towns,  and  take  final  possession  of  it. 
One  of  these  first  destructive  waves,  in  the  year  1477, 
swept  over  part  of  the  Italian  dominions  of  Venice. 
From  Udine,  where  the  peasants  took  refuge,  the  country 
round  looked  like  a  sea  of  fire,  and  the  light  of  the  flames 
reflected  in  the  sky  could  be  seen  from  Venice  herself. 
Unsupported  as  they  were  by  any  other  Italian  State,  with 
no  ally  but  Matthias  Corvinus,  the  Venetians  found  them- 
selves obliged  to  make  peace  with  the  Turks  at  an  immense 
sacrifice,  giving  up  several  of  their  Greek  islands  and  their 
towns  on  the  Adriatic  coast. 

When  at  peace  with  them,  the  Turks  turned  their  arms 
in  other  directions;  and  in  the  same  year,  1480,  Mahomet 
sent  out  three  expeditions — one  by  land,  against  Hungary ; 
and  two  by  sea,  against  Otranto  and  the  island  of  Rhodes. 
There  was  terrible  consternation  in  Italy  when  it  was 
known  that  the  city  of  Otranto  had  actually  been  taken  by 
the  infidels,  and  that  all  the  clergy  had  been  massacred  in 
the  most  cruel  manner.  The  Turkish  Pasha  strengthened 
the  fortifications,  and  turned  the  churches  into  mosques, 
and  it  was  feared  that  Rome  itself  might  soon  be  threatened ; 
but  the  waves  of  destruction  had  reached  the  barrier  which 
they  were  not  permitted  to  pass  over,  and  after  the  Turks 
had  kept  Otranto  for  two  years,  it  was  retaken  by  Alfonso, 
eldest  son  of  the  King  of  Naples. 

Matthias  Corvinus  had  likewise  completely  routed  the 
army  sent  into  Hungary,  and  the  Knights  of  Rhodes,  under 


192  LANDMARKS    OP    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  XI. 

their  noble  Grand-Master,  Pierre  d'Aubusson,  sustained  a 
long  siege  in  the  bravest  manner.  Mahomet  at  first  sum- 
moned him  to  pay  tribute,  but  he  replied,  "  We  are  sworn 
to  fight  with  the  infidels,  not  to  be  their  vassals,"  and  re- 
solved to  hold  out  to  the  last.  Gloriously  he  did  so,  with 
broken  walls  and  famished  garrison ;  with  his  Spanish  and 
Italian  knights  faint  of  heart,  and  his  Greek  allies  treach- 
erously inclined,  he,  with  his  French  and  English  brethren, 
fought  manfully  on.-  A  great  breach  had  been  made  in  the 
wall,  and  the  Turks  had  gained  a  footing  on  the  rampart 
On  each  side,  when  d'Aubusson  caused  the  great  standard 
of  St.  John  to  be  unfurled,  and  bade  his  knights  join  him 
in  driving  back  the  foe,  or  dying  in  the  attempt.  He  led 
them  on,  rushing  on  first  in  his  shining  armor,  and 
struggled  up  the  rampart,  and  though  twice  hurled  back, 
and  twice  wounded,  he  was  the  first  to  gain  the  top  of  the 
rampart ;  and  quickly  followed  by  his  knights,  after  a  long 
and  desperate  struggle,  the  Turks  were  forced  back,  and 
d'Aubusson,  with  seven  wounds,  was  carried  back  to  his 
palace,  where,  before  he  was  cured,  he  received  the  joyful 
tidings  that  the  Neapolitan  fleet  was  coming  to  his  aid,  and 
that  the  Turks  were  sailing  away  on  their  approach.  Thus, 
after  a  siege  of  eighty-nine  days,  Rhodes  was  rescued. 

The  next  year,  1481,  Mahomet  II.  died,  after  having  sub- 
dued two  empires  and  twelve  kingdoms,  and  established 
the  Turkish  power  in  Europe,  where  it  has  subsisted  ever 
since.  A  dispute  for  the  succession  between  his  two  sons 
occupied  the  Turks,  and  prevented  them  from  attempting 
to  extend  their  conquests. 


CHAPTER  Xn. 
EXPULSION  OF  THE  MOORS.    1450-1491. 

CHABLES   THE   BOLD.       1450-1476. 

France  had  been  in  the  mean  time  slowly  recovering  from 
the  effects  of  the  long  and  dreadful  wars  with  England. 
Charles  VII.  received  the  name  of  the  Fortunate,  because 
of  his  restoration  to  his  throne  ;  but  his  latter  years  were 
grievously  embittered  by  the  misconduct  of  his  son,  the 
Dauphin  Louis,  one  of  the  cleverest,  most  crafty,  and  most 
wicked  men  of  his  time. 

At  one  time,  when  Louis  had  extremely  provoked  his 
father,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  his  court,  and  take  reftige 
with  Duke  Philippe  of  Burgundy,  for  whose  son,  Charles, 
Count  de  Charolais,  he  feigned  the  greatest  friendship, 
though  never  were  two  men  more  opposite  in  character. 
Louis  was  cunning,  deceitful,  personally  timid,  an  excellent 
politician,  insinuating  in  manner,  yet  with  a  spiteful  delight 
in  giving  pain,  loving  to  look  on  at  tortures  of  mind  or 
body,  avaricious  of  wealth  and  power,  mean  in  appearance 
and  dress ;  but  the  most  hateful  part  of  his  whole  disposi- 
tion was  his  abject  superstition,  which  made  him,  not  at- 
tempt to  change  his  life,  nor  to  lay  aside  his  crimes,  but  pay 
slavish  devotion  to  images  and  relics.  He  appointed  the 
Blessed  Virgin  commander  of  his  Scottish  guards,  and  one 
of  his  prayers,  as  he  called  them,  which  has  been  preserved, 
is  so  shocking,  that  it  is  hard  to  say  whether  it  is  most  ab- 
surd or  most  blasphemous.  Charles,  on  the  contrary,  was 
fierce,  bold,  high-spirited,  and  impetuous,  frank  and  open, 
magnificent  in  dress,  liberal  in  his  gifts,  but  at  the  same 
time  coarse  in  his  manners,  and  exceedingly  proud  and  vio- 
lent in  temper.  He  lost  one  of  his  best  friends,  the  clever 
Flemish  historian,  Philippe  de  Comines,  in  consequence  of 
a  fit  of  passion,  in  which  he  beat  him  about  the  head  with 
his  heavy  boots.     Yet  there  was  a  generosity  and  truthful- 

9 


194  LANDMAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  Xll. 

ness  about  Charles,  that  from  the  very  contrast  with  Louis, 
attracts  to  him  all  the  interest  of  the  time. 

Old  Philippe  le  Bon  of  Burgundy  lived  to  a  considerable 
age.  The  last  time  he  made  his  appearance  on  any  great 
occasion,  was  at  a  most  magnificent  feast,  in  1454,  when  a 
pheasant  was  brought  in  with  its  feathers  on,  and  he  vowed 
upon  it  to  go  to  deliver  Constantinople  from  the  Turks ; 
but  he  had  lavished  so  much  money  on  the  feast,  that  he 
could  not  fit  out  an  army,  and  his  plan  fell  to  the  ground. 

In  1461  poor  Charles  VII.  died.  It  is  said  that  he  starved 
himself  to  death,  lest  his  wicked  son  should  poison  him. 
Philippe  of  Burgundy  died  in  1467,  and  the  two  cousins, 
Louis  and  Charles,  became  open  enemies  and  rivals.  The 
dukedom  of  Burgundy,  with  the  addition  of  the  counties 
of  Holland,  Brabant,  Flanders,  and  Hainault,  all  inherited 
by  Duke  Charles,  included  almost  as  much  land  as  the  king- 
dom of  France ;  and  it  was  even  supposed  that  he  might 
aspire  to  assume  a  royal  crown,  in  right  of  so  extensive  a 
territory.  He  had  a  warlike  nobility  in  Hainault  and  Flan- 
ders, much  attached  to  his  person,  and  derived  immense 
riches  from  his  merchant  towns. 

On  the  other  hand,  Louis  held  aloof  from  his  knights  and 
nobles,  whom  he  wished  to  abase,  and  surrounded  himself 
with  men  of  mean  birth, — Olivier,  his  barber,  and  Tristan 
I'Hermite,  his  provost-marshal,  being  his  favorite  associates. 
He  secretly  tried  to  inflame  against  Charles  the  great  trad- 
ing towns,  which  were  offended  by  their  duke's  haughty 
overbearing  treatment. 

His  plans  resulted  in  occasioning  a  great  revolt  at  Li^ge, 
where  the  artisans  rose,  murdered  their  bishop  and  several 
of  his  clergy,  and  declared  war  against  the  duke  ;  but  this 
could  not  have  happened  at  a  worse  time  for  Louis,  who, 
trusting  to  that  generous  temper  of  Charles's  which  he 
despised,  had  gone  with  a  very  few  attendants  to  meet  the 
iduke  at  Peronne,  intending,  as  usual,  to  overreach  him. 
Charles  was  furiously  enraged  at  the  tidings  of  the  bishop's 
murder :  he  imprisoned  the  king,  and  Louis  found  himself 
caught  in  his  own  trap. 

However,  he  took  an  oath  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  revolt  of  Li^ge,  and  promised  to  bring  all  his  forces  to 


CHARLES   THE    BOLD.  195 

assist  in  reducing  the  insurgents,  upon  whicli  Charles  re- 
leased him,  and  together  they  took  and  sacked  Liege,  after 
which  Louis  returned  to  Paris,  greatly  embittered  against 
his  rival. 

Charles's  power  continued  nevertheless  to  increase,  until 
he  involved  himself  in  a  quarrel  with  tlie  Swiss,  whom  he 
greatly  despised  and  hated.  He  had  offered  to  purchase 
old  King  Rene's  titles  and  claims,  and  already  attempted 
to  take  possession  of  Lorraine,  the  inheritance  of  the  young 
Rene,  son  of  Yolande,  who  allied  himself  with  the  Swiss. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  war  Charles  met  with  some  suc- 
cess ;  he  took  the  town  of  Granson,  and  hanged  all  the  gar- 
rison, hoping  by  this  cruelty  to  intimidate  the  Swiss  ;  but 
he  little  knew  the  determination  of  those  gallant  peasants, 
and  forgot  the  fearful  overthrow  of  the  two  Duke  Leopolds 
of  Austria. 

They  marched  against  him,  and  near  Granson,  on  the 
banks  of  the  lake  of  Neufchatel,  he  gave  them  battle,  ex- 
pecting to  destroy  them  utterly  with  his  heavy  artillery, 
and  his  chivalry,  the  most  numerous  and  best  equipped  be- 
longing to  any  prince  in  Europe.  But  the  Swiss  stood 
firm.  Nothing  could  withstand  their  resolution,  nothing 
could  break  their  serried  ranks ;  the  Burgundians  were 
driven  from  the  field,  leaving  all  their  cannon  behind  them, 
and  dragging  the  duke  along  with  them,  beside  himself 
with  ra^e  and  despair. 

To  wipe  out  the  disgrace  was  his  only  desire.  He  grew 
more  fierce  and  passionate  than  ever;  he  let  his  beard 
grow,  neglected  his  person,  and  was  so  violent  and  morose, 
that  scarcely  any  one  ventured  to  speak  to  him.  As  soon 
as  he  could  collect  his  forces,  he  again  attacked  the  Swiss ; 
but  still  in  vain,  and  his  fury  was  redoubled  by  a  second 
disastrous  defeat  at  Morat. 

In  the  winter  of  1476,  he  besieged  Nancy,  the  capital  of 
Lorraine ;  the  Swiss  and  the  Lorrainers,  under  their  young 
Duke  Rene,  marched  to  its  aid,  and  Charles  little  knew 
that  he  had  a  traitor  in  his  camp,  the  Count  of  Campobasso, 
an  Italian  condottiere,  to  whom  he  had  given  all  his  confi- 
dence. On  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  January,  1476,  Cam- 
pobasso went  over  to  the  enemy,  and  admitted  them  into 


196  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  Xn. 

the  camp.  Charles  mounted  his  horse,  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  Burgundians,  and  fought  desperately,  but  his 
troops  were  in  such  confusion  that  he  could  not  rally  them, 
and  the  next  morning  his  corpse  was  found,  stripped  of  all 
his  arms,  lying  half-sunken  into  a  frozen  pool,  about  a  mile 
from  the  field  of  battle,  the  skull  cleft  open,  and  two 
wounds  in  the  body.  Who  killed  him  was  never  known. 
He  left  no  son,  and  all  his  great  dominions  descended  to 
his  only  daughter,  Marie,  who  was  just  twenty  years  of  age 
at  the  time  of  his  death. 

PART  II.      LOUIS  XL      1476-1490. 

The  reign  of  Louis  XL  was  a  memorable  one,  because  in  it 
the  power  of  the  French  crown  was  so  much  increased  by 
the  ruin  of  the  feudal  nobility.  Formerly,  the  king  was 
only  regarded  as  the  first  gentleman  in  France,  and  his 
great  vassals  were  of  almost  equal  power  and  consideration 
with  himself;  but  Louis  aimed  at  being  an  absolute  sov- 
ereign, and  set  himself  to  crush  the  great  nobles,  and  raise 
the  cities,  so  as  to  balance  their  power. 

His  measures  were  often  dreadfully  cruel.  At  Loches 
he  had  a  dungeon,  where  all  who  offended  him  were  im- 
prisoned and  often  cruelly  tormented,  by  being  put  into 
iron  cages,  where  they  had  no  room  either  to  stand  up- 
right or  to  lie  at  full  length.  The  most  horrible  of  all 
Louis's  cruelties  was  exercised  on  Henri  and  Franyois,  the 
two  young  sons  of  the  Duke  de  Nemours,  who,  after  their 
father  had  been  executed,  were  not  only  shut  into  these 
cramping  cages,  but  condemned  each  to  lose  a  tooth  every 
day,  which  the  king  desired  should  be  brought  to  him. 
Henri,  who  was  only  ten  years  old,  had  the  noble  self- 
devotion  to  entreat  the  jailer  to  draw  two  of  his  teeth 
each  day,  and  spare  his  little  brother;  and  thus  it  was 
done  until  death  put  an  end  to  the  brave  boy's  sufferings. 
Little  Fran9ois  was,  after  Henri's  death,  released  from  his 
cage,  and  confined  in  a  room,  and  he  lived  to  be  set  at 
liberty  and  restored  to  his  dukedom,  but  his  limbs  had  be- 
come deformed  in  consequence  of  the  sufferings  he  had 
undergone.    ' 


LOUIS  XI.  197 

The  king,  in  the  mean  time,  lived  in  continual  suspicion, 
horror,  and  dread.  No  fortifications  were  ever  so  compli- 
cated as  those  of  his  castle  of  Plessis  les  Tours,  where  he 
lived  apart  from  all  his  brave  barons,  surrounded  by  no 
better  companions  than  Olivier  the  barber,  and  Tristan  the 
hangman.  Other  kings  had  boldly  walked  the  streets  of 
their  towns,  held  banquets  openly,  and  ridden  forth  among 
their  knights ;  but  Louis  XI.  scarcely  imprisoned  one  of 
his  captives  at  Loches  more  closely  than  himself,  guarded 
as  he  was  within  the  double  walls  of  Plessis,  watched  day 
and  night  by  the  Scottish  archers,  while  man-traps  were 
dispersed  everywhere  around,  except  in  paths  only  known 
to  the  few  whom  Louis  trusted. 

From  this  den,  Louis  gradually  extended  his  power.  He 
bought  the  succession  to  all  old  King  Rene's  claims ;  he 
made  alliances  in  Italy ;  he  bargained  with  Leonor,  Queen 
of  Navarre,  for  the  dependencies  of  her  crown ;  he  negoti- 
ated with  Franyois,  last  Duke  of  Brittany,  for  the  marriage 
of  his  heiress,  Anne  of  Brittany  ;  and  he  strove  to  raise  up 
enemies  against  the  young  Marie,  Duchess  of  Burgundy. 

Marie,  a  gentle,  sensible,  excellent  person,  gained  the 
love,  not  only  of  her  noble  vassals,  but  of  her  turbulent 
citizens,  and  they  supported  her  against  all  her  enemies. 
She  married  Maximilian,  eldest  son  of  the  old  emperor, 
Frederick  III.  He  was  a  brave  and  chivalrous  prince,  and 
they  ruled  in  great  prosperity  for  five  years,  until  she  died 
in  consequence  of  a  fall  from  her  horse,  much  lamented, 
and  leaving  two  infants,  Philippe  and  Marguerite. 

The  Flemings  seized  on  the  little  Philippe,  declaring 
that  he  was  their  duke,  and  belonged  to  them ;  and  they 
guarded  him  at  Liege,  lest  he  should  be  carried  off  to  his 
other  inheritance  of  Austria,  threatening  to  make  war  on 
his  father  till  he  consented  to  let  them  have  the  keeping  of 
him.  Marguerite  was  betrothed  to  Louis's  son,  the  Dau- 
phin Charles,  and  sent  to  be  educated  at  the  court  of 
France. 

Such  a  wicked  man  as  Louis  XI.  could  not  fail  to  have  a 
great  dread  of  death,  and  when  he  found  his  health  declin- 
ing, his  alarm  was  extreme,  though  at  the  same  time  he 
made  every  effort  to  conceal  his  danger  from  others.     He 


198  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

made  schemes  for  wars,  in  order  that  he  might  be  supposed 
in  full  health ;  he  imported  all  kinds  of  animals  used  for 
the  chase,  as  if  for  his  sport ;  he  showed  himself  in  public, 
that  he  might  not  be  supposed  to  be  ill ;  and  his  supersti- 
tion made  him  surround  himself  with  everything  which,  as 
he  fancied,  might  serve  as  a  sort  of  charm  against  death. 
Relics  from  half  the  churches  in  France,  the  sacred  oil  of 
Rheims,  hermits  sought  out  from  their  cells,  were  all 
brought  round  him,  as  if  they  could  help  him  to  grasp  any 
longer  this  life,  for  which  he  had  given  all ;  but  in  vain,  he 
was  fast  departing  from  his  crown,  his  realms,  and  his 
power,  and  on  the  30th  of  August,  1485,  he  died,  leaving 
behind  him  one  of  the  most  detested  names  in  history. 

His  son,  Charles  VIII.,  was  only  six  years  old,  and  the 
regency  was  left  to  his  eldest  daughter,  Anne,  wife  of 
Pierre  de  Bourbon,  the  Lord  of  Beaujeu.  She  was  a  very 
clever  woman,  and  ruled  France  very  well  in  her  brother's 
name,  releasing  the  victims  of  her  father's  cruelty  at 
Loches,  but  carrying  out  such  of  his  measures  as  were 
wise,  and,  indeed,  following  his  example  in  some  of  his 
breaches  of  faith. 

The  young  heiress,  Anne  of  Brittany,  was  married  by 

Sroxy  to  Maximilian  of  Austria,  the  husband  of  the  late 
[arie  of  Burgundy ;  but  Anne  of  Beaujeu,  perceiving  how 
much  it  would  be  to  the  advantage  of  France  to  unite  with 
it  the  great  Keltic  independent  duchy,  proposed  to  the 
young  duchess  to  marry  her  to  her  brother,  and  make  her 
Queen  of  France.  Maximilian,  who  wanted  steadiness  of 
character,  was  following  out  some  of  his  schemes  of  knight- 
errantry,  and  did  not  come  to  take  possession  of  his  bride : 
she  grew  tired  of  waiting  for  him,  and  gave  her  hand  to 
Charles  VIII.  His  daughter,  Marguerite,  who  was  be- 
trothed to  Charles,  was  sent  back  to  Flanders,  and  thus 
father  and  daughter  were  both  cheated;  but  Maximilian 
was  little  grieved,  for  he  was  in  no  haste  to  supply  the 
place  of  his  beloved  Marie.  He  has  been  called  the  last  of 
the  knights,  and  was  full  of  generosity  and  fantastic  gal- 
lantry. He  once  appeared  at  a  tournament  as  champion 
of  the  German  name,  and  won  a  complete  victory. 


THE   INQUISITION    IN    SPAIN.  199 

PART   III.       THE    INQUISITION    IN   SPAIN.       1479. 

Enrique  IV.  of  Castile  was  a  weak-minded,  cowardly- 
prince,  greatly  disliked  and  despised  by  his  subjects.  He 
allowed  the  Moors  to  make  inroads  without  opposition, 
and  though  he  said  that  he  preferred  saving  the  life  of  one 
Castilian  to  the  death  of  a  hundred  Mussulmen,  this  was 
only  considered  as  a  fine  speech  to  cover  his  faintness  of 
heart.  The  King  of  Granada,  when  summoned  to  pay 
tribute,  answered  that  in  the  earlier  days  of  Enrique' s'reigu 
he  would  have  off'ered  anything,  even  his  children,  for  the 
maintenance  of  peace — now  he  would  give  nothing. 

After  setting  aside  poor  Blanca  of  Aragon,  Enrique  mar- 
ried Juana  of  Portugal,  a  light-minded  princess,  of  whom 
the  Castilians  had  a  very  bad  opinion.  She  had  one 
daughter,  named  Juana,  to  whom  Enrique  commanded  his 
vassals  to  swear  allegiance ;  but  they  did  not  consider  her 
legitimate,  and  broke  out  in  rebellion,  setting  up  the  king's 
young  brother,  Alfonso,  a  spirited  and  promising  boy, 
eleven  years  old.  After  considerable  successes,  Alfonso 
died  almost  suddenly,  and  the  insurgents  turned  their  eyes 
upon  his  sister  Isabel,  a  maiden  of  sixteen,  whose  noble* 
qualities  were  well  known  to  them,  and  were  the  hope  of 
Castile.  They  wished  at  once  to  proclaim  her  queen,  but 
she  would  not  consent  to  have  her  name  set  up  against  her 
lawful  sovereign,  and  an  accommodation  was  made,  by  which 
she  was  declared  heiress  to  the  crown  after  his  death. 

Isabel  was  sought  in  marriage  by  many  princes,  but  she 
listened  to  none  of  their  proposals  except  those  of  Fer- 
nando, that  son  of  the  King  of  Aragon  for  whose  sake  his 
brother  and  sister  had  been  sacrificed.  A  marriage  with 
him  would  unite  the  crowns  of  Christian  Spain,  and  every 
report  assured  her  of  the  courage  and  ability  of  the  young 
prince.  Her  brother's  courtiers,  however,  watched  her 
carefully,  dreading  that  she  should  become  the  wife  of  one 
able  to  maintain  her  cause,  and  at  last  the  marriage  was 
almost  a  stolen  one :  Fernando  crossed  the  frontier  while 
Enrique  was  absent  in  the  south,  came  to  Valladolid  with 
a  small  retinue,  and  there  they  were  married,  on  October 
19th,  1469,  both  being  so  poor  that  they  were  obliged  to 


200  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

borrow  money  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  ceremony. 
Five  years  after  Enrique  died,  in  1474,  and  Isabel  was 
crowned  Queen  of  Castile.  The  cause  of  her  niece,  Juana, 
was  maintained  by  Affonso  V.  of  Portugal ;  but  he  was 
totally  routed  at  Toro,  and  Juana  quietly  retired  into  a 
convent  where  she  spent  the  rest  of  her  life.  Affonso, 
about  the  same  time,  gave  up  his  crown  to  his  son  Joao, 
and  died  at  Cintra,  in  1481.  Old  Juan  II.  of  Aragon,  died 
in  1479,  from  which  time  dates  the  union  of  the  kingdoms 
of  Castile  and  Aragon,  thus  forming  one  large  central  State 
in  the  Peninsula,  at  that  time  bordered  by  three  lesser  king- 
doms— Portugal,  Granada,  and  Navarre. 

The  sovereigns  under  whom  the  two  kingdoms  were 
joined  were  persons  well  able  to  use  their  power.  Fer- 
nando was  a  bold,  able,  cunning,  and  grasping  man ;  but 
Isabel  was  a  character  of  far  higher  order.  She  was  deeply 
j)ious  and  humble,  and  her  whole  life  was  a  pattern  of 
every  womanly  and  queenly  virtue.  She  was  courageous, 
and  careless  of  her  own  danger  or  suffering  when  her  hus- 
band or  her  people  were  to  be  served,  but  in  a  feminine  and 
retiring  manner  suited  to  her  whole  demeanor,  which  was 
always  dignified,  modest,  and  reserved.  Perfectly,  also, 
did  she  know  how  to  strike  the  balance  between  her  sub- 
mission as  a  wife  and  her  duty  as  a  queen  regnant,  up- 
holding the  rights  of  Castile ;  and  though  most  devoted  to 
her  husband,  never  allowing  him  to  do  any  injustice  to  her 
subjects.  Gentle,  firm,  humble,  and  majestic,  there  are 
few  ladies  in  history  whose  names  deserve  to  be  so  honored 
as  that  of  the  noble  Isabel  of  Castile. 

There  is  but  one  of  her  deeds  for  which  blame  can  be 
attached  to  her,  and  even  that  was  done  conscientiously. 
In  Isabel's  early  youth  her  confessor  had  been  a  Dominican 
monk  named  Tomas  de  Torquemada,  who,  it  is  said,  ex- 
acted a  vow  from  her  that  if  ever  she  came  to  the  throne, 
she  would  devote  herself  to  the  uprooting  of  false  doctrine ; 
and  on  her  accession  he  claimed  the  promise,  calling  on  her 
to  introduce  into  Spain  the  tribunal  called  the  Inquisition, 
which,  had  been  established  in  Italy  and  Provence  by  St. 
Dominic,  in  the  time  of  the  Albigenses.  The  clergy  de- 
clared that  the  number  of  Jews  living  in  Castile,  many 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  GEAXADA.  201 

professing  Christianity,  although  Jews  at  heart,  together 
with  the  numerous  Moriscos,  or  half-converted  Moors,  in 
the  southern  provinces,  rendered  strong  measures  neces- 
sary. Isabel  was  too  gentle  to  be  willing  to  persecute,  but 
her  husband  and  all  the  clergy  whom  she  reverenced  told 
her  that  these  were  weak  scruples,  such  as  it  was  wrong  to 
indulge :  she  yielded,  and  the  Inquisition  was  introduced 
into  Spain,  where  it  has  ever  since  been  a  heavy  yoke,  and 
has  been  the  means  of  some  of  the  worst  cruelties  that 
have  stained  the  Romish  Church. 

The  proceedings  of  the  Court  of  the  Inquisition  were 
conducted  with  complete  secrecy,  and  when  a  person  was 
by  its  judges  convicted  of  heresy  or  Judaism,  the  punish- 
ment was  death  by  fire.  The  cruel  character  of  the  Span- 
iards gave  the  executions  greater  horrors  than  have  almost 
anywhere  been  equalled.  They  took  place  on  holydays 
(the  first  was  on  the  Epiphany  of  1479),  were  looked  on 
as  religious  ceremonies,  and  called  autos  da  /e,  acts  of 
faith.  The  miserable  victims  were  marched  to  a  stone 
scaffold,  dressed  in  pointed  caps  and  garments  painted  to 
represent  the  flames  of  hell,  and  there  were  burnt  alive  in 
sight  of  the  assembled  multitude,  who  were  taught  to  be- 
lieve that  reviling  them  and  rejoicing  in  their  sufferings 
was  a  service  acceptable  to  Heaven. 

The  Jews  were  the  first  victims  of  the  Inquisition ;  after- 
ward it  extended  its  cruelties  to  the  Moors,  and  ever  since 
it  has  been  applied  to  crush  the  least  spark  of  doubt  of  the 
teaching  of  the  Romish  Church.  Its  flames  were  lighted 
in  Spain  long  after  persecution  to  the  death  had  ceased  in 
every  other  country  ;  and  even  now  it  continues,  both  there 
and  in  Italy,  to  exercise  a  close  supervision  over  books,  as 
well  as  to  examine,  imprison,  and  maltreat  every  person 
suspected  of  heresy,  under  which  term  it  includes  all 
questioning  the  corruptions  of  Rome. 

PART    IV.       THE    CONQUEST    OF   GEANADA.       1483-1491. 

MoEE  than  seven  hundred  years  had  passed  since  the  Moors 
first  set  foot  in  Spain,  and  commenced  their  brilliant,  learned, 
and  magnificent  empire.     The  Christians  then  were  hidden 

9* 


202  LANDMARKS    OP    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  XII. 

in  the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains,  poor  and  suffering,  but 
they  had  bravely  endured,  and  step  by  step,  generation  after 
generation,  the  resistance  "  bequeathed  by  bleeding  sire  to 
son,"  had  won  back  their  own  ground,  and  forced  the  in- 
vaders to  retreat.  The  names  of  the  successive  capitals  of 
Castile  are  a  witness  of  the  ever-advancing  arms  of  the 
Christians — Burgos,  Toledo,  Cordova,  Seville,  ever  more 
southerly,  till  now  the  loveliest  province  of  all,  Granada, 
with  its  capital,  the  pomegranate  of  the  Vega,  alone  re- 
mained to  the  Moors. 

The  celebrated  city  of  Granada  was  said  to  have  derived 
its  name  from  its  situation  upon  two  hills  with  a  ravine  be- 
tween them  ;  the  romantic  fancy  of  the  Spanish  Moors  gave 
it,  from  this,  the  name  Granada,  meaning  a  pomegranate. 
South  of  the  city  spread  the  beautiful  vega,  or  plain,  culti- 
vated with  marvellous  skill. 

Fernando  and  Isabel  resolved  that  they  would  win  this 
city,  and  render  Spain  once  more  a  Christian  land.  Few 
wars  have  been  more  full  of  noble  and  gallant  incidents,  or 
displayed  more  splendid  instances  of  courage  and  chivalry 
on  both  sides  ;  for  the  Moors  had  orders  of  knighthood,  the 
bold  Abencerrages  and  Zegris,  who  would  not  be  behind 
the  Christians  in  valor  and  courtesy,  and  there  was  a  perfect 
rivalry  between  the  two  parties  in  all  the  qualities  of  chivalry. 

But  the  Moors  had  a  weak  king,  Abu  Abdallah,  com- 
monly called  Boabdil,  or,  by  the  Castilians,  El  Bey  chico^ 
the  little  king,  from  the  contrast  with  the  late  fiery-spirited 
king,  his  father ;  he  was  disliked  and  disobeyed,  and  want 
of  union  was  fast  hastening  the  fall  of  the  Moorish  em- 
pire, in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  his  spirited  mother,  the 
Sultana  Zoraya. 

The  Reyes  Catolicos,  or  Catholic  sovereigns,  the  title 
given  by  the  Pope  to  Fernando  and  Isabel,  regarded  the 
war  as  religious,  and  invested  it  with  every  solemnity  that 
could  give  that  impression.  Each  campaign  began  with 
prayer ;  a  numerous  band  of  clergy  accompanied  the  army ; 
the  standard  of  the  cross,  which  was  borne  at  its  head,  was 
of  solid  silver,  blessed  and  presented  to  Fernando  by  Pope 
Sixtus  IV, ;  and  whenever  a  victory  was  gained  by  the  king, 
the  queen  went  in  solemn  procession  to  the  cathedral  to  re- 


THE  CONQUEST  OP  GRANADA.  203* 

turn  thanks.  Each  newly-conquered  city  was  entered  with 
solemn  ceremonial.  First  the  royal  standard-bearer  mounted 
to  the  summit  of  the  citadel  and  uplifted  the  silver  cross, 
a  token  that  Christianity  was  there  restored,  and  at  that 
sight  the  whole  army  fell  on  their  knees,  while  the  thanks- 
giving hymn  of  Te  Deum  was  led  by  the  clergy,  and 
chanted  with  one  voice  by  the  victors.  Then  was  unfolded 
the  pennon  of  Santiago,  the  patron  of  Spain,  and  his  name 
was  invoked ;  and,  lastly,  the  heavy  banner  of  Castile's 
castles  and  lions,  quartered  with  the  stripes  of  Aragon,  was 
uplifted,  while  the  shout  of  Castile  !  Castile  !  arose  from  the 
soldiers.  A  bishop  then  entered  the  principal  mosque,  puri- 
fied it  from  the  Moonsh  defilements,  and  consecrated  it  to 
Christian  worship.  Often  the  taking  of  a  city  was  rendered 
doubly  joyful  by  the  opening  of  the  dungeons  filled  with 
Christian  captives,  who  came  forth  wan  and  wasted,  their 
beards  reaching  to  their  waists,  and  their  hands  and  feet 
loaded  with  chains.  Fernando  sent  these  to  the  queen,  wlio 
rejoiced  in  relieving  their  wants  and  restoring  them  to  their 
homes,  where,  in  token  of  thanksgiving,  they  often  hung 
up  their  fetters  in  their  parish  churches,  as  a  testimony  to 
future  ages. 

All  the  works  of  mercy  were  wrought  by  Isabel.  It  was 
she  who  provided  tents,  beds,  and  every  accommodation  for 
the  wounded,  in  a  train  of  wagons  and  of  sumpter  mules, 
that  followed  the  camp,  and  were  known  as  the  queen's  hos- 
pital. She  procured  the  supplies,  constructed  the  roads, 
supported  the  courage  of  the  troops  in  disaster,  and  when 
reverses  made  the  hopes  of  counsellors  and  warriors  give 
way,  she  came  amongst  them  to  encourage  them  by  her 
own  perseverance  and  faith. 

After  eight  years'  war,  siege  was  laid  to  Granada  itself, 
and  noW  Isabel  took  up  her  abode  in  the  camp,  with  her 
children  and  her  ladies,  their  presence  inspiring  the  gallant 
Spaniards  to  the  very  utmost  in  performing  feats  of  chiv- 
alry. It  was  then  that  Hernando  de  Pulgar  galloped  into 
the  city,  and  fastened  a  taper,  with  a  paper  inscribed  with 
the  Ave  Maria,  on  the  very  door  of  the  great  mosque. 
Here,  too,  the  great  Gonzalo  Fernandes  de  Cordova  first 
proved  those  noble  qualities  that  gave  him  the  name  of  the 


204  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.   XII. 

Great  Captain.  His  courage,  skill,  and  courtesy  were  con- 
tinually shown,  as  well  as  the  free  hand,  which  was  essential 
in  a  true  knight.  On  one  occasion,  the  tents  in  which  the 
queen  lodged  caught  fire,  and  all  her  wardrobe  and  furni- 
ture were  burnt,  but  before  she  had  time  to  feel  any  incon- 
venience, Gonzalo  had  sent  to  his  castle  of  Illora  to  supply 
the  deficiency  from  the  stores  of  his  newly-married  wife, 
and  such  a  profusion  of  all  a  lady  could  need  was  laid  be- 
fore Isabel,  that  she  said  with  a  smile,  that  the  fire  had  done 
more  damage  to  the  cofiers  of  Illora  than  to  hers ;  to  which 
he  courteously  answered,  "  His  all  was  little  to  be  presented 
to  such  a  queen." 

To  guard  against  such  accidents,  as  well  as  to  shelter  the 
army  in  case  the  siege  should  last  till  winter,  the  sovereigns 
resolved  to  make  their  camp  into  a  city ;  each  tent  gave 
place  to  a  stone  house,  and  the  whole  was  arranged  in  a 
regular  square,  with  four  gates,  and  two  intersecting  streets. 
It  was  completed  in  three  months,  and  the  army  wished  to 
call  it  by  the  name  of  their  queen,  its  foundress,  but  Isabel 
declined  this  compliment,  begging  that  it  might  rather  bear 
the  name  of  Santa  Fe,  the  holy  faith  that  had  sustained 
her  and  her  people  through  the  toils  of  this  long  war. 

The  sight  of  the  besiegers  thus  taking  root  before  their 
walls,  so  discouraged  the  Moors,  that  they  began  to  think 
of  surrender  ;  provisions  were  growing  scarce,  mutinies 
breaking  out,  and  hopes  of  aid  from  Africa  failing.  Young 
Abdallah  secretly  opened  negotiations  with  Fernando  and 
Isabel,  and  conferences  were  held  at  night  between  his  mes- 
sengers, their  secretary,  and  Gonzalo  de  Cordova,  in  a  little 
hamlet  close  to  the  walls.  Abdallah  agreed  to  give  up  the 
city,  provided  its  Moorish  inhabitants  were  allowed  the  ex- 
ercise of  their  religion  and  laws,  and  he  himself  received  a 
small  territory  among  the  mountains  of  the  Alpuj  arras. 

Tliese  terms  were  agreed  to,  and  on  the  2d  of  January, 
f  492,  Fernando  and  Isabel,  in  their  most  festal  array,  and  at- 
tended by  a  magnificent  band  of  gallant  warriors,  mounted 
their  horses  to  take  possession  of  Granada.  At  the  foot  of 
the  hill  of  Los  Martires  they  met  Abdallah,  attended  by 
fifty  Moorish  horsemen.  He  rode  up  to  the  King  of  Ar- 
agon,  threw  himself  from  his  horse,  and  was  about  to  kiss 


ANCIENT   MODELS.  205 

his  hand,  in  token  of  homage,  but  Fernando  embraced  him 
in  his  arms  with  every  mark  of  pity.  Abdallah  then  deliv- 
ered up  the  keys  of  the  Alhambra,  saying,  "  They  are  thine, 
O  king,  since  Allah  so  wills  it !  Use  thy  success  with 
clemency  and  moderation."  Fernando  tried  to  speak  some 
words  of  consolation,  but  the  unfortunate  prince  could  not 
bear  to  prolong  the  interview,  and  sadly  moved  on,  went 
through  his  obeisance  to  the  queen,  and  hastened  up  the 
rugged  paths  to  the  Alpuj  arras.  Soon  he  looked  back, 
standing  on  a  rock  still  called  "  The  last  sigh  of  the  Moor," 
and  cast  his  eyes  over  the  lovely  Vega,  the  beautiful  city 
of  Granada,  and  the  pearl  of  fortress  palaces,  the  Alham- 
bra, the  pride  of  Spain,  all  lost  forever.  He  gazed  on  it 
till  he  burst  into  tears,  and  exclaimed,  "  Alas  !  what  woes 
were  ever  equal  to  mine  ?"  "  It  befits  you,"  sternly  answer- 
ed his  mother,  Zoraya,  "  to  bewail,  like  a  woman,  what  you 
could  not  defend  like  a  man ;"  and  the  unhappy  king  moved 
on  to  pine  and  die  in  his  dreary  domain  of  the  Alpujarras. 

Meanwhile  the  Christians  entered  Granada.  The  silver 
cross,  the  pennon  of  Santiago,  and  the  banner  of  Castile, 
waved  together  on  the  Alhambra ;  the  choir  of  the  royal 
chapel  sung  their  hymn  of  praise ;  king,  queen,  nobles,  and 
soldiers  knelt  in  prayer,  and  then  the  nobles,  one  by  one, 
approached  Isabel,  and  on  their  knees  saluted  her  as  sov- 
ereign of  Granada,  Queen  of  Christian  Spain. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  CINQUE-CENTO.    1490-1506. 

PART   I.       ANCIENT    MODELS. 

It  is  hard  to  define  the  boundary  of  the  middle  ages,  but 
we  may  consider  that  period  about  the  year  1500,  which  is 
known  in  art  as  the  Cinque-cento,  as  the  time  when  the 
face  of  the  world  was  beginning  to  be  cast  somewhat  in  its 
present  mould. 


206  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTOKY.  [cHAr.  XIII. 

The  two  great  discoveries  made  in  mediaeval  times, 
namely,  printing  and  gunpowder,  had  by  this  time  occa- 
sioned great  changes.  Books  were  comparatively  common, 
and  every  one  of  gentle  blood  went  through  some  course 
of  study,  and  was  better  qualified  to  form  opinions  than  in 
the  preceding  times  of  ignorance.  There  was  a  spirit  of 
inquiry  throughout  society,  and  things  that  had  been 
hitherto  taken  for  granted,  were  curiously  investigated. 
Kight  and  wrong,  truth  and  error,  were  mingled  together 
in  the  new  ideas  and  speculations,  but  the  mind  was 
awakened,  and  men  began  to  compare  the  stream  of  tradi- 
tion with  the  fountain-head  whence  it  had  flowed. 

The  Vulgate,  or  Latin  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  had 
hitherto  been  the  only  one  used,  and  Wyclifie's  English 
version  of  it  had  been  condemned  by  authority.  But  in 
the  beginning  of  the  Cinque-cento,  John  Reuchlin,  a  Ger- 
man, set  the  example  of  searching  into  the  original  lan- 
guages of  Scripture,  compiled  a  Hebrew  grammar  and 
dictionary,  and  collected  all  the  manuscripts  he  could  ob- 
tain from  the  Jews.  Gerhard,  commonly  called  Erasmus, 
a  native  of  Holland,  followed  this  up  by  an  edition  of  the 
Greek  Testament,  praying,  when  he  published  it,  "  that  it 
might  produce  as  much  fruit  for  Christianity  as  it  had  cost 
him  labor  and  trouble ;"  and  Martin  Luther,  the  Saxon 
miner's  son,  was  in  the  University  of  Erfurth,  deeply  study- 
ing the  Latin  Bible,  and  discovering  how  many  important 
parts  had  been  set  aside  in  the  daily  readings  of  the  Church, 
to  make  way  for  the  histories  of  Saints. 

In  secular  learning  the  same  spirit  existed.  The  study 
of  the  classic  authors  of  Greece  and  Rome,  which  had  been 
revived  by  Petrarch  and  Boccaccio,  was  thriving  at  all  the 
universities  in  Europe,  and  the  manuscripts  from  which  old 
convent  scribes  had  been  wont  to  try  to  erase  the  "  heathen 
tales,"  were  now  diligently  sought  out,  laid  up  in  royal 
libraries,  and  printed  copies  everywhere  dispersed.  It  was 
in  the  knowledge  of  them  that  scholars  were  now  examined, 
instead  of  in  the  philosophy  of  the  Latin-Arabic  version  of 
Aristotle,  or  the  discussions  of  the  schoolmen.  And  not 
only  was  it  the  clergy  who  were  thus  educated,  but  lay- 
men, who  began  increasingly  to  devote  themselves  to  the 


ANCIENT   MODELS.  207 

law  and  to  State  affairs,  and  even  men  of  the  sword,  found 
themselves  behindhand  without  a  knowledge  of  ancient 
learning. 

A  literature  of  its  owm  had  sprung  up  in  each  of  the 
chief  countries  of  Europe,  and  numerous  books  were  written 
in  modern  tongues,  with  due  attention  to  grammar  and  the 
laws  of  language.  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  the  great  merchant 
who  held  the  government  of  Florence,  was  at  this  time  the 
chief  promoter  of  literature  in  Europe,  and  was  celebrated 
by  the  poets  and  scholars  of  his  court  as  their  Maecenas,  in 
allusion  to  the  Mascenas  of  the  Augustan  age,  the  friend  of 
Virgil. 

And  as  classic  learning  was  esteemed,  so  w^as  classic  art. 
A  different  taste  in  architecture  had  arisen,  and  the  Gothic 
models  were  abandoned,  in  order  to  return  as  much  as  pos- 
sible to  the  modes  of  building  that  had  been  so  beautiful 
in  ancient  Greece.  The  necessary  arrangements  for  Chris- 
tian worship,  and  the  difference  of  climate  in  the  more 
northerly  parts  of  Europe,  made  an  exact  following  of  the 
Greek  types  impossible ;  but  the  attempt  to  carry  it  out, 
and  unite  it  with  the  Gothic,  may  be  seen  in  almost  every 
building  of  the  time,  and  has  formed  a  style  known  as  the 
Cinque-cento.  The  clustered  column  gave  way  to  the  plain 
circular  Greek  pillar;  the  deep  porch  to  the  portico  on 
steps ;  the  pointed  arch  to  the  semicircular ;  and  the  spire 
to  the  dome.  The  great  example  of  this  revival  of  Greek 
architecture  is  the  magnificent  Church  of  8t.  Peter's  at 
Rome,  and  the  mighty  Florentine  artist,  Michael  Angelo 
Buonarotti,  is  the  greatest  name  among  those  who  de- 
signed it. 

In  sculpture  it  was  the  same.  The  works  of  Greeks  and 
Komans,  which  had  escaped  being  destroyed  as  idols,  were 
prized  beyond  measure.  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  was  forming 
a  splendid  museum  at  Florence,  the  wonder  and  admiration 
of  every  subsequent  age ;  and  in  Hungary,  King  Matthias 
Corvinus  is  said  to  have  collected  no  less  than  three  hundred 
ancient  statues  in  his  library  at  Buda,  but  these  were  after 
his  death  taken  and  destroyed  by  the  Turks.  And  as  the 
Greeks  had  studied  from  the  figures  of  men,  always  scanti- 
ly clothed,  and  often  completely  exposed  in  their  games, 


208  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  IX. 

the  modern  artists  betook  themselves  to  the  minute  exam- 
ination of  the  human  form  and  its  anatomy,  Michael  Angelo, 
as  before,  leading  the  way  and  executing  the  most  splendid 
works.  Thenceforth  there  were  no  more  heavily-draped 
statues  of  saints  in  their  niches,  standing  as  simply  as  pos- 
sible ;  nor  sculptured  forms  upon  tombs,  the  face  composed 
into  the  sleep  of  death,  the  hands  clasped,  and  the  robes 
arrayed  as  the  corpse  had  worn  them  on  its  bier  ;  but  there 
was  a  desire  to  show  as  much  knowledge  and  skill  as  pos- 
sible in  the  position  of  the  figure,  and  the  action  of  the 
limbs. 

In  painting,  too,  the  old  stiif  forms  were  departed  from, 
as  well  as  the  faces  with  which  the  saints  had  been  repre- 
sented so  long,  that  they  might  almost  be  thought  real 
portraits.  Michael  Angelo  looked  down  on  painting,  but  ex- 
celled in  it,  and  his  fellow-townsman,  Raffaelle  Sanzio  di 
Urbino,  is  the  painter  whom  none  have  ever  equalled  in 
sacred  subjects.  His  representations  of  the  scenes  of  our 
Lord's  history,  of  His  Mother,  and  of  His  Apostles,  drawn 
with  reverence  to  ancient  tradition,  yet  with  respect  to  the 
truth  of  nature,  have  approved  themselves  to  all,  as  guid- 
ing the  mind  to  holy  thoughts,  and,  by  means  of  engrav- 
ings, have  been  spread  along  with  Christianity.  Hans 
Holbein,  the  Fleming,  was  at  the  same  time  very  great 
as  a  portrait-painter,  and  Albert  Durer,  of  Nuremburg,  is 
at  the  head  of  all  German  art  as  a  painter  and  engraver, 
and  his  other  talents  are  too  varied  to  specify. 

This  return  in  everything  to  old  sources  was  to  make 
greater  changes. 

PABT  II.       WARFARE. 

Gunpowder  was  the  other  invention  brought  to  light  by 
the  will  of  Heaven  in  its  own  good  time,  to  effect  great 
alterations  in  the  state  of  society. 

In  the  mediaeval  times,  when  sharp  weapons,  the  lance, 
the  sword,  the  axe,  and  the  arrow  alone  were  used,  and  the 
protection  from  them  consisted  in  plates  of  steel,  helmet, 
shield,  hawberk,  and  gauntlet,  the  only  effective  warrior 
(everywhere   but  in  England   and  Switzerland)  was  the 


WARFARE.  209 

wealthy  man  who  could  afford  to  case  himself  in  this  very- 
expensive  armor,  and  to  maintain  a  horse  able  to  carry  him 
and  it.  One  such  heavily-anned  knight  could  disperse 
hundreds  of  peasants,  and  thus  the  power  of  a  few  nobles 
could  hardly  be  withstood ;  especially  when  each  had  a 
castle  to  retreat  to,  with  walls  of  such  strength  and  height 
that  nothing  could  drive  him  from  it  but  famine.  In  each 
country,  therefore,  the  feudal  system  flourished  ;  the  nobles 
were  petty  princes,  made  war  with  each  other,  and  dicta- 
ted to  their  sovereign. 

But  when  the  peasant,  instead  of  his  bow  and  arrow,  had 
firearms  in  his  hands,  he  became  a  match  for  the  knight  on 
horseback.  Steel  armor  shattered  under  the  bullet,  and 
before  lance  or  sword  could  be  used  the  horseman  was  on 
the  ground.  Plis  castle  walls  too  were  broken  down  by 
the  cannon-ball,  and  his  personal  prowess  and  strength  lost 
their  preponderance. 

Thus  the  power  was  in  the  hands  of  the  person  who 
could  bring  into  the  field  the  greatest  number  of  men,  and 
this  being  a  matter  of  money,  the  kings  were  in  this  cen- 
tury far  stronger  than  ever  before.  It  was  now  that 
fighting  men  acquired  the  name  of  soldiers,  from  the  solde^ 
or  pay  they  received.  Each  individual  being  a  mere  no- 
body, dependent  on  his  employer,  the  king,  as  long  as  he 
could  pay,  needed  to  consult  no  one  how  he  should  employ 
his  troops  ;  whereas,  his  feudal  followers  could  only  be 
summoned  to  his  standard  for  forty  days,  and  would  go 
nowhere  but  with  their  own  good-will.  He  thus  had  not 
only  more  weight  at  home,  but  was  better  able  to  make 
war  in  other  countries. 

The  weapon  most  in  use  among  these*  soldiers  was  the 
arquebuss,  so  called  from  the  vulgar  Italian  arcabouza,  a 
bow  with  a  hole  in  it,  as  it  took  the  place  of  the  crossbow, 
and  resembled  in  shape  the  stock  of  that  weapon.  It  was 
,  fired  by  a  match,  and  was  sometimes  loaded  with  stone 
bullets.  Steel  armor  was  still  worn,  especially  the  helmet 
and  back  and  breast-plates ;  but  leathern  coats  were  be- 
ginning to  be  found  preferable  for  foot-soldiers,  and  it  was 
only  the  knights  who  continued  to  encumber  themselves 
with  the  full  weight  of  chivalrous  armor. 


210  LANDMARKS    OP    HISTORY.  [CIIAP.  XIII. 

The  baron  or  knight,  fighting  independently,  his  pennon 
followed  by  his  squires  and  men-at-arms,  was  no  more 
heard  of;  the  army  was  arrayed  in  troops,  more  resembling 
the  regiments  of  our  day,  each  commanded  by  its  captain 
and  other  officers,  and  its  ensign  in  the  care  of  either  the 
eldest  or  youngest.  In  old  feudal  countries  the  captain 
was  often  a  noble,  and  his  troop  consisted  of  his  vassals 
and  men-at-arms  of  his  own  raising,  the  officers  being  his 
relations  and  friends :  otherwise  he  was  appointed  by  the 
king  to  the  command,  or,  in  the  mercenary  bands,  he  had 
risen  by  the  choice  of  the  soldiers  themselves. 

Swiss,  who  left  their  own  mountains  to  make  a  fortune, 
were  the  favorite  infantry  of  that  century,  having  estab- 
lished their  fame  by  the  defeat  of  the  Burgundian  chivalry. 
Scots  were  also  much  employed  by  the  French  ;  and  num- 
bers of  Germans  became  Lanzknechts,  and  formed  the 
mercenary  cavalry.  Such  Italians  as  were  of  a  roving  and 
martial  spirit  had  for  many  years  past  been  accustomed  to 
enlist  in  the  same  manner,  and  there  were  many  Condot- 
tieri,  or  captains  of  considerable  valor,  who  hired  their 
services  to  the  different  States  or  princes. 

The  knights  and  nobles  lamented  bitterly  over  the  new 
customs,  as  bringing  about  the  decay  of  all  chivalry  and 
honor;  and,  in  truth,  these  hired  bands,  fighting  for  re- 
ward, not  for  their  country,  had  little  sense  of  duty  except 
to  their  immediate  employer ;  they  were  greedy  and  rapa- 
cious, desirous  to  amass  plunder,  which  they  spent  in  riot, 
and  were  extremely  violent  and  cruel  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  country.  They  rendered  war  far  more  horrible  and 
destructive  than  it  had  yet  been. 

PART  III.      THE   DISCOVERY   OP   AMERICA.       1492-1506. 

In  these  days  of  research  naval  enterprise  was  carried  fur- 
ther than  before.  The  Portuguese,  under  Prince  Enrique, 
had  led  the  way  by  the  discovery  of  the  Canary  Isles,  and 
were  diligently  following  it  up.  In  1487  Bartolome  Diaz 
doubled  what  he  called  the  Cape  of  Storms,  but  the  king, 
Joao  II.,  named  it  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope ;  and,  ten  years 
after,  Vasco  de  Gama,  pursuing  the  same  track,  arrived  at 


THE   DISCOVERY    OF   AMERICA.  211 

Calicut,  in  India,  and  made  the  first  step  to  the  establish- 
ment of  tlie  Portnguese  power  there. 

The  Portuguese  efforts  were  directed  to  reach  India  from 
the  East ;  but  at  the  same  time  it  came  into  the  mind  of 
a  (renoese  mariner  that  there  must  also  be  a  way  of  going 
thither  from  the  West.  That  sailor's  name  was'Cristovalo 
Colon,  or  as  it  has  been  Latinized,  Columbus. 

He  was  a  man  of  the  highest  talents,  united  with  great 
simplicity  of  character,  most  religious  temper,  of  perfect 
faith  and  trust,  such  as  sustained  his  enthusiasm  and  en- 
abled him  steadily  to  persevere  in  singleness  of  heart 
through  long  and  repeated  trials  of  adversity  and  disap- 
pointment. 

It  was  no  glory  of  his  own  that  Columbus  sought,  it  was 
the  glory  of  God.  In  finding  a  new  path  across  the  ocean, 
he  hoped  to  open  another  road  for  the  deliverance  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  and  to  fufil  the  prophecies  that  the  ends  of 
the  earth  should  remember  themselves,  and  be  turned  unto 
the  Lord,  and  all  the  kindreds  of  the  nations  worship  before 
Him.  Through  his  whole  life  Columbus  was  in  spirit  as  true 
a  ciTisader  as  ever  was  Godfrey  de  Bouillon. 

A  poor  man,  as  he  was,  could  by  no  means  fit  out  a  ship 
to  pursue  the  expedition  across  the  Atlantic,  and  he  ap- 
plied to  Joao  II.  of  Portugal  and  Henry  VII.  of  England 
without  success.  He  then  had  recourse  to  the  King  and 
Queen  of  Spain,  Fernando  and  Isabel,  but  they  were  en- 
gaged in  the  Moorish  war,  and  could  spare  no  attention  for 
the  adventurer.  After  many  years  of  weary  waiting,  liow- 
ever,  Isabel  at  length  granted  him  three  small  vessels  for 
his  voyage,  and  on  the  3d  of  August,  1492,  he  sailed  from 
the  port  of  Palos. 

Many  were  his  anxieties,  from  the  dangers  of  the  un- 
known voyage,  and  the  terrors  and  mutiny  of  the  sailors, 
but  at  last,  on  the  12th  of  October,  he  first  beheld  land.  It 
was  the  little  isle  of  San  Salvador,  in  all  the  beauty  of  the 
West  Indies,  the  sea  transparent  as  crystal,  and  the  noble 
trees  hung  with  magnificent  fruits,  the  natives  watching  in 
amazement  the  vessels  which  were  approaching  their  shore. 

He  landed,  bearing  a  banner  with  the  cross  and  the 
initials  of  Fernando  and  Isabel,  and  he  knelt,  kissed  the 


212  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

earth,  and  returned  thanks,  then  read  aloud  a  prayer  that 
"  He  who  had  created  heaven  and  earth  and  sea,  might'  be 
blessed  and  glorified  in  this  new  portion  of  His  world." 
Columbus  was  persuaded  that  this  was  the  other  side  of 
India,  and  gave  his  new  discovery  the  name  of  the  West 
Indies.  He  coasted  about  among  the  islands,  finding  each 
lovelier  than  the  last,  and  so  happy  and  delighted,  that  at 
last,  in  his  journal,  he  fairly  apologized  to  the  sovereigns 
for  having  said  so  much  of  the  beauty  of  the  first  isle,  that 
he  was  afraid  they  would  not  believe  him  when  he  said  he 
had  found  one  more  lovely  than  all  the  others.  Cuba  and 
Hayti,  or,  as  he  called  it,  Hispaniola  (Little  Spain),  were 
the  chief  islands  that  he  visited.  The  Carib  inhabitants, 
Indians,  as  the  Spaniards  termed  them,  seemed  gentle  and 
peacefully  disposed,  and  willingly  bartered  fruits,  fresh 
water,  and  golden  anklets,  for  the  glass  beads  and  toys 
offered  them  by  the  Spaniards.  Columbus  carried  off  six 
of  these  natives  to  Spain,  and  left  a  small  body  of  men  in  a 
little  port  in  Hayti,  when  he  returned  on  the  4th  of 
January,  1493,  and  on  that  day  two  months  he  entered  the 
mouth  of  the  Tagus. 

No  honors  were  thought  too  much  for  him.  When  he 
entered  the  presence  of  Fernando  and  Isabel,  they  rose  to 
meet  him,  would  hardly  allow  him  to  kneel  to  pay  them 
homage,  and  made  him  sit  beside  them.  When  he  had 
told  his  chief  adventures  they  sank  on  their  knees  and  re- 
turned thanks  to  Heaven,  and  the  choir  of  the  chapel  com- 
menced the  hymn  Te  Deum.  Columbus  was  created  Grand 
Admiral,  and  was  to  receive  a  third  part  of  all  the  treasures 
he  might  gain,  and  he  was  at  present  regarded  as  the 
greatest  man  at  the  coui-t.  But  the  Holy  Sepulchre  was 
his  first  thought  all  the  time,  and  no  sooner  did  the  pros- 
pect of  wealth  open  on  him,  than  he  made  a  vow  of  fitting 
out  an  army  for  its  defence  in  seven  years'  time. 

A  grant  was  obtained  from  Pope  Alexander,  by  which 
he  gave  the  Spaniards  a  right  to  all  western  discoveries,  as 
the  Portuguese  already  had  a  grant  of  all  those  in  the  east, 
and  Columbus  set  forth  again  with  a  far  larger  fleet.  He 
found  on  his  arrival  at  Hayti  that  his  garrison  there  had 
misconducted  themselves,  offended  the  natives,  and  had  all 


THE    DISCOVERY    OF   AMERICA.  213 

been  killed.  He  himself  laid  foundations  of  a  new  town, 
which  he  called  Isabella,  and  established  his  government. 
More  discoveries  were  made,  and  the  Spaniards  set  them- 
selves to  hunt  for  the  place  whence  came  the  gold  the 
natives  were  wearing,  but  without  much  success.  They 
treated  the  natives  harshly,  and  Columbus  could  not  pre- 
vent it.  But  there  is  no  space  here  to  follow  his  adven- 
tures. After  his  third  voyage,  a  traitor  came  home,  and 
accused  him  to  the  queen  of  cheating  her,  and  misusing  the 
Indians :  a  new  governor  was  sent  out,  and  he  was  sent 
home  in  irons. 

His  patience  did  not  fail,  and  the  statement  of  the  honest 
truth  cleared  him  instantly.  Isabel  was  shocked  at  the  un- 
worthy treatment  he  had  received,  and  when  he  came  to 
her  court  at  Granada,  she  received  him  with  tears  in  her 
eyes.  And  when  the  brave  and  constant  old  man  saw  his 
queen  and  benefactress  weeping  for  him,  he  threw  himself 
at  her  feet,  and  could  not  for  some  minutes  speak  for  sobs 
and  tears.  When  she  had  raised  him  from  the  ground,  he 
spoke  of  his  own  conduct  with  such  noble  simplicity  and 
honor,  that  no  one  could  feel  anything  but  shame  at  having 
suspected  such  a  man. 

He  was  sent  out  on  a  fourth  voyage,  and  it  was  in  this 
that  he  touched  at  the  northern  part  of  the  southern  conti- 
nent, which  received  its  name  from  Amerigo  Vespucci,  a 
Venetian,  who  accompanied  him.  But  this  was  a  melan- 
choly expedition ;  the  governor  appointed  in  his  place  was 
a  violent  man,  and  the  Spaniards  were  so  cruelly  misusing 
the  poor  natives,  that  Columbus,  m  the  grief  of  his  heart, 
declared  he  could  have  wished  never  to  have  discovered 
these  isles  rather  than  have  brought  them  so  much  misery. 

Moreover,  there  were  envyings  at  him,  discontents  at  his 
attempts  to  repress  these  cruelties,  disappointments  in  Spain 
at  more  gold  not  being  sent  home.  The  king  had  always 
been  jealous  of  him,  and  never  loved  nor  trusted  him,  and 
his  own  rents  and  dues  were  kept  back  from  him  :  he  was 
now  an  old  man,  worn  down  with  toil  and  climate,  and 
though  his  faith  and  hope  kept  him  cheerful,  and  still  the 
same  simple-hearted  man,  watching  for  hopes  of  delivering 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,  his  bodily  frame  was  giving  way. 


214  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTOKY.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

In  1504  he  sailed  for  Spain,  to  represent  the  injustice  that 
he  suffered,  and  to  appeal  once  more  to  his  beloved  queen. 
He  had  a  stormy  voyage,  and  arrived  at  Seville  too  unwell 
to  travel  onward ;  but  he  sent  his  son  before  him  with  letters 
exposing  the  falsehoods  of  his  enemies.  "  If  I  have  failed 
in  anything,"  he  said,  "  it  has  been  because  my  knowledge 
and  powers  went  no  further." 

At  that  very  time  Isabel  was  dying.  She  never  received 
his  appeal,  and  he  was  left  to  the  mercy  of  Fernando,  and 
what  a  subject  that  selfish  king  neglected,  may  be  seen  in 
these  words  of  Columbus  to  his  son  :  "  A  memorial  of  what 
is  at  present  to  be  done  .  .  .  the  principal  thing  to  com- 
mend affectionately  the  soul  of  the  queen  to  God.  .  .  .  The 
next  is  to  watch  and  labor  for  all  matters  for  the  service  of 
our  sovereign  the  king." 

A  long  illness  ensued,  and  when  Columbus  was  able  to 
travel  to  court,  he  obtained  nothing  but  empty  words,  and 
no  redress.  He  calmly  wrote  to  a  friend :  "  It  appears  that 
his  majesty  does  not  think  fit  to  fulfil  that  which  he,  with 
the  queen,  who  is  now  in  glory,  promised  me  by  word  and 
seal.  For  me  to  contend  for  the  contrary  would  be  to  con- 
tend with  the  wind.  I  have  done  all  I  could  do.  I  leave 
the  rest  to  God,  whom  I  have  ever  found  propitious  to  me." 

And  to  Him.  who  alone  could  reward  him,  he  soon  went. 
He  died  on  the  20th  of  May,  1506,  allotting  part  of  the 
revenues  of  his  estate  for  the  rescue  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
when  its  time  should  come.  "  Columbus  gave  a  new  world 
to  Spain,"  was  inscribed  on  his  monument,  and  was  the 
motto  of  his  descendants*. 


^A  B  R  aUT^ 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

CALIFOUNIA.J 


\- 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
ITALIAN  WARS.    1490-1517. 

PAKT   I.       CAUSES    OF    THE    WAR    IN    ITALY.       1490-1494. 

Taking  a  review  of  the  state  of  Europe  at  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  we  find  the  three  Scandinavian  kingdoms 
united,  under  the  Danish  King  Hans,  but  the  Swedes  ex- 
tremely disliking  the  yoke  of  Denmark,  and  ripe  for  revolt. 

The  Sclavonians  of  Russia  were  Christians  of  the  Greek 
Church,  but  still  very  rude  and  savage.  They  had  been 
hitherto  divided  into  a  number  of  small  States,  of  which 
Novgorod  was  the  richest  and  most  powerful,  owing  to  its 
being  the  place  of  traffic  for  furs,  and  other  northern  pro- 
duce. The  Novgorodians  were  ruled  by  grand  princes, 
whom  they  kept  in  much  subjection.  In  one  hundred  years 
they  had  changed  them  thirty-four  times,  deposing  one  be- 
cause he  hunted  and  hawked  so  much  as  not  to  attend  to 
the  execution  of  justice.  "  Get  away  from  us,"  they  said, 
"  and  let  us  choose  another  prince."  Great  assemblies 
were  held  in  the  market-place,  and  when  a  crime  had  been 
committed  a  large  bell  was  rung,  at  sound  of  which  all 
the  men  came  together,  each  with  two  stones  under  his 
arms,  and  cast  them  at  the  offender,  who  thus  was  put  to 
death  in  the  manner  of  the  Mosaic  law. 

The  Tartars  who  had  been  left  scattered  at  Tamerlane's 
death  were  great  enemies  of  the  Russians,  making  forays 
on  the  villages,  till  Iwan  L,  the  grand  prince  of  Moscow, 
took  an  Italian  into  his  service,  and  learning  from  him  the 
use  of  firearms,  subdued  the  Tartars,  and  then  employed 
them  against  Novgorod,  which  he  conquered,  carried  off 
the  great  bell  to  Moscow,  and  dispersed  the  most  turbulent 
families  into  other  cities.  His  son  Vassily,  who  succeeded 
him  in  1505,  was  the  first  to  be  called  Tzar,  from  the  old 
Eastern  word  zar,  or  lord,  and  he  may  be  considered  as  the 
founder  of  an  Eastern  empire  which  now  far  exceeds  the 
Roman  in  magnitude. 


216  la:n^dmarks  of  history.  [chap.  xiv. 

Poland,  the  other  Sclavonic  kingdom,  was  at  this  time 
prosperous,  under  Casimir,  one  of  its  greatest  kings,  and 
his  eldest  son,  Ladislas,  had  been  chosen  king  by  both 
Hungary  and  Bohemia,  a  preference  due  to  his  father's 
merits  rather  than  his  own,  for  he  was  so  slow  and  heavy 
that  the  Hungarians  called  him  the  Ox  ;  and  on  Casimir's 
death,  in  1492,  the  Poles  elected  in  his  stead  John  Albert, 
the  second  son. 

In  Turkey,  or  the  Othman  Empire,  which  had  taken  the 
place  of  the  Greek  Empire,  the  Sultan  was  Bajazet  H.,  who 
had  dethroned  and  driven  away  his  brother  Zizim,  or  Gem, 
who  had  taken  refuge  with  the  knights  of  Rhodes.  Baja- 
zet promised  the  Grand-Master,  Pierre  d'Aubusson,  a  pen- 
sion, as  long  as  he  would  keep  Zizim  from  coming  home,  and 
to  this  d'Aubusson  consented,  but  finding  the  exile's  life  un- 
safe so  near  Turkey,  sent  him  to  France.  Next  the  Sultan 
wrote  to  Charles  VIII.,  to  make  him  the  tempting  ofifer  of 
all  the  relics  in  Constantinople  if  he  would  deliver  up  the 
unfortunate  Zizim,  but  Charles  rejected  the  proposal,  and 
sent  him  back  to  Italy. 

The  high-spirited  James  IV.  of  Scotland  had  just  come 
of  age,  and  was  trying  to  tame  his  subjects,  and  England 
was,  under  the  government  of  Henry  VII.,  recovering  from 
the  Wars  of  the  Roses.  Germany  was  under  Maximilian 
of  Hapsburg,  Archduke  of  Austria,  a  strange  character, 
right-minded,  able,  chivalrous,  and  high-spirited,  but  with- 
out any  steadiness  of  mind.  He  wasted  his  courage  in  ex- 
ploits of  mere  daring,  chamois-hunting  on  the  most  des- 
perate precipices  of  the  Tyrol,  and  once  standing  with  one 
foot  on  the  balustrade  on  the  top  of  the  cathedral  of  Ulm. 
He  excelled  in  the  tournament,  and  wrote  his  own  memoirs, 
under  the  name  of  the  White  King,  wliile  at  the  same  time 
he  was  so  heedless  as  always  to  lose  the  right  moment  for 
acting ;  so  wasteful  of  his  revenues,  that  he  was  crippled 
for  want  of  means,  and  thus  so  often  obliged  to  fail  in  his 
engagements,  that,  though  of  honorable  and  generous  na- 
ture, no  one  depended  on  his  promises.  Of  his  two  children 
by  Marie  of  Burgundy,  the  son,  Philippe,  seems  to  have  in- 
herited his  folly ;  the  daughter,  Margaret,  his  sense.  They 
were  married  to  Juan  and  Juana,  the  son  and  daughter  of 


CAUSES    OF   THE    WAR   IN    ITALY.  217 

Fernando  and  Isabel,  King  and  Queen  of  Castile  and  Ara- 
gon ;  but  the  young  prince  Juan  died  in  the  course  of  the 
wedding  festivities,  and  Margaret,  returning  home,  became 
her  father's  counsellor,  and  took  care  of  the  education  of 
her  brother's  infant  family,  who  would  otherwise  have  been 
cruelly  neglected,  as  their  father  was  thoughtless  and  self- 
indulgent,  and  their  mother's  mind,  always  weak,  was  un- 
settled by  the  uneasiness  he  gave  her. 

This  poor  Juana  was,  by  the  death  of  Prince  Juan,  heiress 
to  Spain,  now  the  most  prosperous  country  in  Europe,  under 
the  excellent  rule  of  Queen  Isabel,  and  her  admirable  min- 
ister, Francisco  Ximenes  de  Cisneros,  Cardinal  Archbishop 
of  Toledo.  Portugal  flourished  also  under  Joao  II.  and 
his  son  Don  Manoel.  The  murderess,  Leonor  of  Aragon, 
Countess  de  Foix,  and  Queen  of  Navarre,  died  three  weeks 
after  her  father.  It  was  considered  that  her  sins  were  visit- 
ed upon  her  descendants,  for  her  eldest  son,  Gaston  de 
Foix,  a  fine  young  man,  married  to  the  Princess  Madeline 
of  France,  was  killed  in  early  youth  in  a  tournament,  leav- 
ing two  infant  children.  Franyois  Phoebus,  the  son,  be- 
coming King  of  Navarre  at  an  early  age,  was  brought  up 
with  great  care  by  his  mother,  at  Fau,  and  showed  high 
promise,  but  when  about  eighteen,  on  returning  from  a  visit 
to  Paris,  he  fell  into  a  lingering  illness,  which  he  himself 
ascribed  to  having  touched  with  his  lips  a  poisoned  flute. 
"  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,"  he  often  said.  After 
his  peaceful  death,  Navarre  was  inherited  by  his  sister 
Catherine,  who  married  Jean  d'Albret,  a  French  noble. 
But  though  Navarre  had  more  often  had  queens  regnant 
than  any  other  kingdom,  her  uncle,  Jean  de  Foix,  Viscount 
de  Narbonne,  asserted  a  claim  to  the  succession,  and  it 
seemed  to  be  left  ready  for  a  pretext  for  war  on  the  first 
opportunity. 

However,  it  was  to  the  Italian  quarter  that  the  French 
rking,  Charles  YIIL,  was  directing  his  thoughts.  He  had  a 
great  treasure  and  the  finest  chivalry  in  the  world,  and 
was  just  of  age,  his  head  full  of  great  designs  ;  and  though 
his  person  was  puny  and  feeble,  and  his  intellect  of  a  very 
low  order,  his  flatterers  told  him  of  the  great  deeds  he 
might  efiect.     The  conquest  of  Italy  was,  according  to  his 

10 


218  LANDMAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

dreams,  to  be  only  a  step  towards  driving  the  Turks  out 
of  Constantinople. 

Old  Rene,  that  king  of  many  titles  and  no  lands,  was,  as 
it  may  be  remembered,  heir  to  the  Angevin  kings  of  Na- 
ples and  Sicily,  and  the  crafty  Louis  XI.  had  induced  him 
to  bequeath  these  empty  names,  not  to  his  direct  heir, 
Kene,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  but  to  the  kings  of  France,  so 
that  they  might  have  an  excuse  for  a  war  in  Naples  when- 
ever they  pleased.  It  was  now  in  the  possession  of  Fer- 
dinando,  the  favorite  and  illegitimate  son  of  the  great 
Alfonso  V.  of  Aragon,  grandfather  to  Fernando  the  Cath- 
olic. He  was  a  harsh,  cruel  tyrant,  and  his  son,  Alfonso, 
Duke  of  Calabria,  though  renowned  for  a  victory  over  the 
Turks  at  Tarento,  was  still  more  hated  for  his  cruel  and 
oppressive  nature. 

Alfonso's  daughter,  Isabella-,  was  married  to  Giovanni 
Oaleazzo  Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan,  a  poor,  weak-minded 
youth,  kept  in  great  subjection  by  his  uncle,  Lodovico 
Sforza,  often  called  II  Moro,  some  say  from  his  dark  Moor- 
ish complexion,  others  from  his  device  being  a  mulberry. 
Lodovico  had  been  regent,  and  kept  the  authority  in  his 
own  hands,  though  his  nephew  was  grown  up ;  indeed, 
Isabella  believed  he  meant  to  usurp  the  dukedom,  and  that 
the  life  of  her  husband  was  not  safe,  and  she  was  constantly 
writing  to  summon  her  father  and  grandfather  to  her  help. 

This  made  Lodovico  desirous  to  find  the  Neapolitans  oc- 
cupation at  home,  and  he  began  to  invite  the  king  of 
France  to  come  and  attack  them.  However,  Lodovico 
thought  to  keep  the  Venetians  from  molesting  him  by 
stirring  up  Bajazet  to  a  war  with  them,  and  further  hoped  to 
strengthen  himself  by  giving  his  daughter  Bianca  in  mar- 
riage to  the  Emperor  JVlaximilian. 

Florence,  the  other  great  State  of  Lombardy,  had  lost  its 
great  and  wise  citizen,  the  princely  banker  Lorenzo  de' 
Medici,  called  the  Magnificent,  who  died  in  1492,  in  his 
forty-fourth  year,  of  a  low  fever,  which  his  physicians 
failed  to  cure  by  their  strange  remedies  of  decoctions  of 
pearls  and  precious  stones.  His  sons,  Pietro  and  Giovanni, 
were  very  young,  and,  whether  correctly  or  not,  the  Italians 
ascribe  all  their  misfortunes  to  his  death. 


CAUSES   OF   THE   WAR   IN   ITALY.  219 

A  few  weeks  after  died  the  wicked  old  Pope,  Innocent 
YIIL,  perhaps  in  consequence  of  the  horrible  cure  at- 
tempted by  his  physicians,  of  exchanging  his  blood  for  that 
of  little  children,  three  of  whom  were  sacrificed.  A  still 
more  wicked  man  was  chosen  to  succeed  him.  The  princi- 
pal cardinals  were  Ascanio  Sforza,  brother  to  Lodovico, 
and  Giuliano  della  Rovere,  nephew  to  Sixtus  III. ;  but  as 
soon  as  it  was  plain  that  Sforza  had  not  much  chance  of 
the  papacy,  the  rich  and  avaricious  Spanish  cardinal, 
Rodrigo  Borgia,  sent  four  mules  laden  with  treasures  to 
his  palace,  and  thus  bribed  him  to  give  him  all  his  interest. 

Borgia,  or  Alexander  VI.,  the  scandal  of  the  Romish 
See,  was  thus  elected.  He  was  of  high  birth  and  very 
rich,  and  this  had  caused  his  offences  to  be  overlooked  by 
that  most  corrupt  court  of  Rome,  though  they  were  beyond 
everything  flagrant.  He  was  more  than  suspected  of 
poisoning,  and  shamelessly  acknowledged  five  illegitimate 
children.  Of  these,  Francisco  was  Duke  of  Gandia,  and 
Cesare  was  at  once  created  a  cardinal.  Cesare  Borgia  was 
extremely  clever  and  able ;  he  was  thought  the  handsomest 
man  in  Italy,  and  was  so  strong  that  he  could  knock  down 
a  bull  with  one  blow  of  his  fist ;  and  Lucrezia,  the  daugh- 
ter, was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  women  in  Rome ;  but 
their  crimes  were  such  as  to  render  their  names  some  of 
the  most  detestable  in  history.  Cesare  had  a  band  of  as- 
sassins in  his  pay,  with  whom  he  cut  off  all  his  enemies. 
He  quarrelled  with  the  husband  of  one  of  his  sisters,  and 
sent  these  bravoes,  who,  however,  did  not  complete  their 
work,  and  the  wounded  man  was  brought  home  and  nursed 
by  his  wife  and  sister,  so  dreading  poison  that  he  tasted 
nothing  that  was  not  prepared  by  their  hands ;  but  their 
care  was  vain,  Cesare  broke  into  the  house,  dragged  him 
out  of  his  bed,  and  killed  him  before  their  eyes. 

No  one  who  held  a  dignity  of  which  the  Pope  could  dis- 
pose for  money  was  safe  for  a  moment ;  and  Card^ial  della 
Kovere  soon  fled  to  Ostia,  and  thence  to  Charles  of  France, 
whom  he  stirred  up  to  deliver  the  Church  from  such  a 
monster. 

Ferdinando  of  Naples,  after  many  lamentations  over  the 
troubles   coming  upon  Italy,  escaped  the   storm   by  his 


220  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

death,  in  1493,  just  as  Charles  VIII.,  contrary  to  the 
advice  of  his  wise  sister,  Anne  of  Beaujeu,  was  collecting 
his  troops  for  the  invasion  of  Italy. 


PART   II.       FRENCH   CONQUEST   OF   NAPLES.       1494-1501. 

With  a  very  formidable  army  did  Charles  YIII.  cross  the 
Alps.  There  were  numbers  of  the  gallant  French  noblesse^ 
trained  in  the  rules  of  chivalry,  and  burning  to  distinguish 
themselves ;  there  were  great  bodies  of  Swiss,  reputed  the 
finest  infantry  in  Europe,  and  his  train  of  artillery  was 
such  as  had  never  before  been  brought  together. 

All  went  smoothly  with  him :  Lodovico  Sforza  enter- 
tained him  at  Milan,  and  Pietro  dei  Medici,  who  came  to 
meet  him  on  behalf  of  the  Florentines,  was  so  alarmed  at 
his  great  force,  that  he  gave  up  to  him  the  keys  of  all  the 
Florentine  towns  without  conditions.  This  made  the  citi- 
zens so  angry  that  he  did  not  dare  to  return  home,  and  was 
soon  after  drowned  in  the  river  Garigliano.  The  Floren- 
tines were  just  at  this  time  full  of  zeal  for  their  church  and 
their  city,  owing  to  the  preachings  of  a  monk,  Fra  Gero- 
nimo  Savonarola,  who  had  risen  up  among  them  as  a  wit- 
ness against  the  vice  and  luxury  of  the  times.  His  ser- 
mons were  full  of  fire  and  eloquence,  and  did  much  to  re- 
form the  manners  of  the  people  of  Florence :  his  followers 
were  severely  simple  in  their  habits,  and  at  one  time  were 
so  worked  up  by  his  exhortations  against  pomp  and  in- 
dulgence, that  they  brought  all  the  jewels,  finery,  idle  tales, 
poetry,  pictures,  and  ornaments,  out  of  their  houses,  and 
burnt  them  in  the  streets.  As  a  good  Florentine,  he  was  a 
vehement  republican,  and  his  party  made  it  a  sacred  duty 
to  uphold  their  liberties,  declaring  that  Christ  was  their 
only  king. 

Charley  VIII.  rode  into  Florence  in  armor,  with  his  lance 
in  rest,  and  therefore  fancied  he  came  as  a  conqueror,  not 
an  ally ;  but  as  soon  as  he  began  to  make  exorbitant  de- 
mands, the  bold  Florentine  citizens  answered,  "  If  this  is 
what  you  want,  you  may  sound  your  trumpets,  and  we  shall 
ring  our  alarm-bells."     He  had  no  desire  for  a  battle  in  the 


FRENCH   CONQUEST    OF   NAPLES.  221 

streets  of  Florence,  among  those  castle-like  houses,  and, 
giving  up  the  point,  passed  on. 

At  Rome,  Alexander  VI.  shut  himself  up  in  the  Castle 
of  St.  Angelo,  and  Cardinal  della  Rovere  tried  to  make 
Charles  depose  him,  but  he  stood  in  too  much  awe  of  the 
papal  dignity,  and  contented  himself  with  taking  Cesare 
Borgia  with  him  as  a  hostage,  and  causing  the  Ottoman 
prince,  Zizim,  to  be  put  into  his  hands.  Zizim  soon  after 
died,  some  say  of  poison  given  him  by  Borgia,  otliers  that 
a  renegade  Italian  barber,  called  Mustafa,  had  offered  the 
Sultan  to  murder  him,  and,  going  to  Italy,  had  gladly  been 
received  by  the  exile,  because  he  understood  the  Turkish 
fashion  of  shaving,  thus  obtaining  an  opportunity  of  cutting 
his  throat,  for  which  service  Bajazet  made  the  murderer  his 
Grand  Vizier. 

Alfonso  II.  of  Sicily  had  begun  his  reign  by  murdering 
his  father's  prisoners,  and  now  the  terrors  of  conscience 
made  him  imagine,  he  was  warned  by  his  father's  ghost  not 
to  contend  with  the  French.  He  resigned  his  kingdom  to 
his  son  Ferdinando,  and  retired  to  an  estate  in  Sicily,  carry- 
ing with  him  all  his  treasures,  and  thus  so  weakening  the 
defence,  that  Ferdinando  was  forced  to  abandon  Naples, 
and  retreat  to  Sicily. 

Thus  Charles  VIII.  triumphantly  marched  into  Naples, 
and  was  crowned  as  its  king  in  the  church  of  St.  Januarius, 
but  he  only  stayed  there  a  few  weeks,  leaving  as  his  viceroy 
his  cousin,  Gilbert  de  Bourbon,  Count  de  "Montpensier,  a 
brave  man,  but  so  indolent  that  he  never  rose  till  noon. 

Charles's  return  was  less  easy  than  his  advance.  A  league 
had  risen  behind  him  of  Venetians,  Spaniards,  and  Germans ; 
and  even  Lodovico  Sforza  had  joined  it,  for  Louis,  Duke  of 
Orleans,  was  talking  of  claims  to  the  dukedom  of  Milan, 
through  his  grandmother,  Valentina  Visconti.  The  Flor- 
entines would  not  join  the  League,  but  Savonarola  came  to 
meet  the  king,  and  sternly  rebuked  him  for  the  excesses  of 
his  army,  and  for  having  neglected  the  purification  of  the 
Church. 

The  League  put  their  army  under  the  command  of  the 
great  Italian  general,  the  Marquis  of  Mantua,  who  met  the 
French  at  Fonaovo,  when  they  were  in  much  distress  for 


222  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

provisions,  and  shut  in  by  the  mountains.  If  good  general- 
ship could  have  decided  a  battle,  it  would  have  been  with 
the  Italians,  but  the  French  spirit  and  courage  gained  the 
day,  and  the  confederates  were  forced  to  sue  for  peace. 

Charles  was,  however,  tired  of  the  fatigues  he  had  under- 
gone, and  returning  to  Paris,  thought  no  more  of  the  army 
he  had  left  at  Naples,  and  sent  them  no  succors.  Ferdi- 
nando  asked  aid  from  Spain,  and  forces  were  sent  him  under 
the  brave  and  able  Gonzalo  Fernandes  de  Cordova,  the 
greatest  general  of  that  day.  By  his  means  the  country 
was  gradually  reconquered,  and  the  French  losing  place 
after  place,  suffering  from  fever,  and  without  aid  from  home, 
were  forced  to  make  terms  for  themselves.  Ferdinando  un- 
dertook to  send  them  all  back  to  their  own  country ;  but 
before  this  could  be  done,  the  sickness  had  destroyed  Mont- 
pensier  himself,  and  all  but  five,  hundred. 

The  same  autumn,  1496,  the  young  Ferdinando  likewise 
died  of*  a  sudden  illness,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  uncle, 
Frederico. 

In  the  summer  of  1498,  Charles  YIII.  struck  his  forehead 
against  the  top  of  a  low  doorway ;  an  attack  in  the  head 
came  on,  and  he  died  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours.  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  cousin  Louis,  Duke  of  Orleans,  the  grand- 
son of  that  Louis  of  Orleans,  Charles  V.'s  son,  who  was 
murdered  by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  Louis  had  been  kept 
in  great  subjection  by  Louis  XL,  who  had  obliged  him, 
much  against  his  will,  to  marry  his  daughter  Jeanne,  who 
was  sickly  and  deformed.  Anne,  the  widow  of  Charles, 
was  only  twenty-one,  clever  and  handsome,  and  Duchess  of 
Brittany,  and  though  poor  Jeanne  was  an  affectionate  wife, 
Louis  was  resolved  on  setting  her  aside  to  marry  Queen 
Anne.  He  applied  to  the  Pope  for  a  divorce,  and,  as  the 
price  of  the  iniquity,  gave  the  duchy  of  Valentinois  to  Ce- 
sare  Borgia,  who,  growing  tired  of  being  a  cardinal,  mur- 
dered his  brother  Francesco,  and  resolved  to  be  a  temporal 
prince.  With  the  aid  of  the  French,  he  subdued  all  the 
little  princes  of  Romagna,  and  there,  strange  to  say,  ruled 
so  well  as  to  gain  the  love  of  the  inhabitants. 

Most  bitterly  did  Alexander  VI.  and  his  sons  hate  that 
bold  reprover  of  vice,  Savonarola,  the  monk  of  Florence. 


FRENCH    CONQUEST    OF   NAPLES.  223 

They  called  him  a  heretic,  and  excommunicated  him,  but  he 
declared  that  an  unjust  excommunication  had  no  force,  and 
paid  no  regard  to  it,  and  continued  his  sermons  with  vehe- 
mence that  was  becoming  fanaticism,  especially  when  he 
made  prophecies  on  the  fate  of  Florence.  Another  monk 
oftered  to  prove  his  heresy,  by  both  entering  a  burning  pile 
of  wood,  knowing,  he  said,  that  he  should  perish,  but  hop- 
ing thus  to  deliver  the  Church  from  one  whom  he  deemed 
a  lieresiarch.  Savonarola  would  not  accept  the  challenge, 
but  two  of  his  partisans  did,  and  the  pile  was  actually  pre- 
pared, when  a  sliower  of  rain  extinguished  it.  The  trial 
was  then  given  up,  but  soon  after  a  band  of  vicious  young 
men  attacked  the  convent  of  St.  Mark,  and  after  a  severe 
battle  with  the  friends  of  Savonarola,  he  was  captured  in 
the  church,  and  his  enemies  wrote  to  the  Pope  to  know  how 
to  dispose  of  him.  Alexander  sent  oif  two  monks  to  try 
him  :  they  put  him  to  the  torture,  and  he  being  a  man  of 
weakly,  delicate  frame,  said  all  they  put  into  his  mouth 
while  sntfering,  then  recanted,  and  showed  that  his  mind 
was  firm,  though  his  body  was  feeble.  While  in  prison  he 
wrote  a  comment  on  the  51st  Psalm,  which  he  had  long  ago 
reserved  for  times  of  trouble,  when  commenthig  on  the 
other  Psalms,  and  on  the  25th  of  May,  1498,  he  and  two 
of  his  friends  were  burnt.  One  of  them  was  the  same  who 
had  ottered  to  submit  to  the  ordeal  of  fire  for  his  sake. 
When  the  Pope's  otticer  was  degrading  him  from  the  priest- 
hood, and  declaring  that  he  was  cutting  him  off*  from  the 
Church,  Savonarola  only  answered,  "  della  7niUtante,''''  from 
the  Church  militant,  confident  that  he  was  about  to  enter 
the  Church  triumphant.  His  ashes  were  thrown  into  the 
Arno,  but  some  of  his  relics  are  still  preserved  at  Florence, 
where  he  is  honored  as  a  saint.  He  was  one  of  the  men  who 
might  have  reformed  the  Church  without  a  schism. 

Poor  Galeazzo  Sforza  was  now  dead,  and  Lodovico  il 
Moro  was  alone  in  the  duchy  of  Milan ;  but  Louis  XII. 
was  resolved  to  assert  his  claims,  and  prepared  for  another 
invasion  of  Italy.  Lodovico  could  find  no  aid,  for  his  son- 
in-law,  the  emperor,  was  engaged  in  a  war  with  the  Swiss, 
and  could  only  oflTer  him  a  refuge  at  Innspruck.  Louis  XII. 
entered  Milan  in  triumph,  but  did  not  long  remain  there, 


224  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [cHAP.  XIV. 

leaving  it  in  charge  of  a  garrison,  under  the  Italian  Condot- 
tiere,  Gian  Giacomo  Trivulzio.  Maximilian,  in  the  mean 
time,  having  made  peace  with  the  Swiss,  Sforza  took  a  body 
of  them  into  his  pay,  and  returned  to  his  dukedom,  where 
he  was  well  received.  But  high  pay  and  want  of  disci- 
pline had  ruined  the  honesty  of  the  Swiss,  and  they  could 
not  be  depended  upon.  First  those  in  Trivulzio's  pay  went 
over  to  their  comrades  with  Sforza  and  left  him  to  the 
French,  and  then  altogether  they  deserted  Sforza  and 
joined  Trivulzio.  The  only  favor  they  oifered  him  and  his 
friends  was,  to  disguise  them  in  their  own  armor,  but  Lo- 
dovico  was  too  small,  shrivelled,  and  dark  to  pass  for  one 
of  the  tall,  stout,  fair  Switzers,  and  tried  to  escape  as  a 
Capuchin  friar.  However,  a  treacherous  Swiss  betrayed 
him ;  he  was  taken  prisoner  and  put  into  the  dungeons  of 
Loches,  where  he  pined  away  till  it  suited  the  policy  of  the 
French  to  bring  him  forward  again ;  and  he  was  told  that 
he  was  released,  and  taken  into  the  royal  apartments,  but 
it  was  too  late  ;  his  captivity  had  done  its  work,  and  the  joy 
was  too  much  for  him  ;  he  died  a  few  hours  after  his  libera- 
tion. The  walls  of  his  prison-chamber  are  covered  with 
sentences  of  the  crooked  Italian  policy  in  which  he  was 
thought  to  excel,  but  which  ruined  him,  his  family,  and 
country. 

PART   III.       SPANISH    CONQUEST    OP    NAPLES.       1501-1506. 

The  unfortunate  kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies  was  not  yet 
to  be  at  rest.  Louis  XII.  did  not  intend  to  neglect  the  ad- 
vantages Charles  VIII.  had  gained ;  and  Fernando,  the 
Catholic,  who  knew  that  the  present  King  Frederico  was 
only  maintained  there  by  the  Spanish  force  under  Gonzalo 
de  Cordova,  thought  the  prey  too  tempting  to  be  neglected, 
and  declared  that  his  grandfather,  Alfonso  V.  of  Aragon, 
had  no  right  to  bequeath  it  to  an  illegitimate  son,  away 
from  his  lawful  heir. 

Each  king  being  afraid  the  other  would  be  beforehand 
with  him,  they  at  last  made  an  agreement  to  seize  it,  and 
divide  it  between  them.  Louis  Xll.  sent  a  great  army,  and 
Fernando  ordered  Gonzalo  to  make  himself  master  of  his 


SPANISH  CONQUEST  OF  NAPLES.  225 

share.  Gonzalo  was  grieved  at  having  to  act  against  King 
Frederico,  and  though  obedient  to  his  master,  he  sent  first 
to  renounce  all  the  lands  the  Kings  of  Sicily  had  given  him, 
and  to  desire  to  have  his  oaths  of  allegiance  given  back  to 
him.  He  was  indeed  as  chivalrous  and  pious  as  he  was 
brave  and  able,  and  well  did  he  deserve  his  title  of  the 
Great  Captain.  He  trained  his  soldiers  admirably,  and 
taught  the  infantry  the  use  of  the  pike,  so  that  they  became 
the  strongest  force  in  existence,  superior  even  to  the  Swiss. 

King  Frederico,  a  brave  and  amiable  man,  the  last  of  his 
race,  finding  resistance  vain,  put  himself  into  the  hands  of 
the  French.  Louis  gave  him  the  county  of  Anjou,  and  he 
there  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  very  happily.  His  son,  Fer- 
dinand, Duke  of  Calabria,  was  in  Tarento,  which  held  out 
so  long  against  the  Spaniards,  that  food  and  money  failed 
the  besiegers  :  they  began  to  mutiny,  and  one  of  them  even 
pointed  a  pike  at  Gonzalo's  breast.  The  general  put  it 
aside  with  his  hand,  saying  quietly,  "  Higher,  you  careless 
fellow,  liigher,  or  you  will  run  me  through  in  your  jesting." 
Of  his  own  danger  he  took  no  notice  ;  but  one  of  the  men 
who  dared  to  say  an  insulting  word  of  his  only  daughter,- 
Dona  Elvira,  was  instantly  hung.  Gonzalo  then,  by  caus- 
ing his  ships  to  be  dragged  across  a  bar  of  land,  into  the 
inner  harbor,  forced  the  town  to  surrender,  on  a  promise 
that  the  young  Duke  of  Calabria  should  be  allowed  to  de- 
part unmolested.  Just  as  he  was  gone,  orders  came  from 
Spain  that  he  should  be  sent  thither  as  a  captive :  Gonzalo, 
much  against  his  will,  thought  himself  obliged  to  fulfil 
them,  and  the  duke  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  there,  a  pris- 
oner at  large. 

The  kingdom  of  Naples  was  thus  conquered  by  France 
and  Spain,  but  soon  disputes  arose  about  the  division  ;  the 
French  occupied  more  than  the  Spaniards  considered  their 
right,  and  a  war  broke  out  between  them. 

Louis  d'Armagnac,  Duke  de  Nemours,  a  brother  of  the 
little  boys  whom  Louis  XL  had  tortured  in  the  cage,  was 
named  French  Viceroy  of  Naples,  and  was  at  first  so  much 
the  strongest,  that  Cordova,  unable  to  keep  the  field,  shut 
himself  up  with  his  Spanish  infantry,  and  some  Italians, 
under  the  Roman  Condottiere,  Prospero  Colonna,  in  the 

10* 


226  LANDMARKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

city  of  Barletta,  there  to  wait  for  re-enforcements,  which 
diet  not  come. 

The  Duke  de  Nemours  besieged  the  city,  establishing 
his  headquarters  at  Canossa ;  and  never  was  warfare  more 
chivah-ously  conducted  than  by  these  two  noble  enemies ; 
courteous  messages  continually  passed  between  them,  and 
the  gentlemen  on  either  side  vied  with  each  other  in  cour- 
ageous feats.  Once  a  tournament  was  held  merely  as  a 
trial,  which  were  the  best  horsemen,  the  French  or  the 
Spaniards ;  eleven  arrayed  on  each  side,  with  all  the  camp 
looking  on.  The  chief  French  champion  was  Pierre  de 
Bayard,  a  poor  knight,  but  one  whose  noble  qualities  made 
his  name  universally  honored,  and  had  gained  him  the 
glorious  title  of  "  le  chevalier  sans  peur  et  sans  reproche,''^ 
the  fearless  and  blameless  knight.  The  fight  was  to  last  till 
sunset,  but  long  ere  that  time  every  Frenchman,  save  Bay' 
ard  and  two  others,  were  on  the  ground,  while  seven  Span- 
iards kept  their  seats,  and  thought  the  day  their  own  ;  but 
the  French  made  a  rampart  of  their  dead  horses,  and  kept 
them  off  till  the  evening,  when  it  Avas  adjudged  that  each 
side  had  done  nobly,  and  that  it  was  a  drawn  battle.  Gon- 
zalo  was  displeased,  and  when  his  Spaniards  said  they  had 
shown  themselves  equal  to  the  French,  he  answered,  "  I  sent 
you  for  better." 

Another  such  combat  took  place  between  thirteen  French 
and  thirteen  Italians,  who  had  been  offended  by  the  boasts 
of  the  French  Chevalier  de  la  Mothe.  It  was  agreed  that 
whoever  was  forced  to  yield  should  pay  100  crowns  as  his 
ransom,  but  the  French  were  so  certain  of  victory,  that  not 
one  brought  the  sum  with  him,  and  therefore  were  somewhat 
disconcerted  when  all  were  made  prisoners,  except  one  who 
was  killed.     Bayard  was  not  among  them. 

In  spite  of  these  diversions,  both  parties  were  heartily 
weary  of  the  siege,  which  dragged  on  month  after  month, 
till  the  Spaniards  were  half-starved.  Louis  d'Armagnac 
vowed  he  would  make  them  come  out  of  their  den,  marched 
up  to  the  walls,  and  defied  them  to  a  pitched  battle ;  but 
Gonzalo  made  answer :  "  It  is  my  custom  to  fight  when  my 
own  occasion  and  convenience  serve,  not  when  the  enemy 
wish  it.     Your  grace  must  be  pleased  to  wait  till  my  men 


SPANISH    CONQUEST    OF   NAPLES.  227 

have  shod  their  horses  and  whetted  their  swords."  Ne- 
mours retreated,  and  then  Gonzalo  sallied  out,  and  chased 
him  back  to  CanOssa  in  some  disorder,  though  he  comforted 
himself  by  returning  a  message,  that  when  the  Spaniards 
should  be  as  close  to  Canossa  as  he  had  been  to  Barletta,  he 
would  not  refuse  the  combat. 

Gonzalo  soon  made  another  sally,  and  attacked  the  town 
oflvuvo.  Its  French  commander,  the  Sieur  de  la  Palisse, 
fought  like  a  lion  on  the  breach,  till  he  was  overpowered  by 
numbers,  and  brought  to  the  ground  by  a  wound  on  the 
head.  He  saw  no  knight  nor  noble  near,  and  rather  than 
let  his  sword  be  taken  by  the  common  soldiery,  he  threw  it 
far  over  their  heads,  then  was  carried  to  Gonzalo,  who  gave 
up  his  own  tent  for  his  accommodation. 

At  Ruvo,  Gonzalo  captured  so  much  money,  and  so 
many  horses,  that  he  was  able  to  make  further  attempts, 
and  ten  months  after  the  siege  of  Barletta  began,  he 
marched  out  of  it  to  give  battle  to  the  French.  After  a 
most  fatiguing  march,  during  which  he  set  the  example  of 
each  horseman  taking  a  foot-soldier  up  behind  him,  he  took 
up  his  post  at  Cerignola,  a  vine-clad  hill  opposite  to  Canos- 
sa. It  was  late  in  the  day,  and  the  Duke  de  Nemours 
wished  to  wait  till  morning  for  the  battle,  but  the  Captain, 
Ives  d'Allegre,  was  of  a  contrary  opinion,  and  let  fall 
some  doubts  of  the  duke's  courage,  which  so  incensed  him, 
that  he  ordered  an  immediate  attack,  saying,  "  Perhaps 
those  who  talk  loudest  will  trust  more  to  spur  than  to 
sword." 

The  Spaniards  had  the  advantage  of  ground,  and  gained 
a  complete  victory.  Ives  d'Allegre  was  among  the  hrst  to 
take  flight,  and  the  young  duke  fell  in  the  front  of  the 
battle,  so  much  disfigured  that  his  page  only  recognized 
his  body  by  the  rings  on  the  fingers;  The  Great  Captain 
shed  tears  over  the  corpse,  and  buried  it  at  Barletta  with 
princely  honors. 

Re-enforcements  came  from  Spain,  and  the  French  were 
hunted  into  dififerent  fortresses,  while  Gonzalo  made  a  tri- 
umphant entry  into  Naples,  and  took  Castel  Nuovo  by  as- 
sault, giving  it  up  to  the  pillage  of  the  troops ;  and  when 
some  of  them  complained  that  they  had  missed  their  share, 


228  LANDMARKS   OP   HISTOKY,  [cHAP.  XIV. 

he  sent  them  to  make  up  for  it  by  plundering  the  palace 
assigned  to  him. 

Gaeta  cost  him  a  long  and  wearisome  siege  in  the  face 
of  the  enemy,  who  were  encamped  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  Garigliano,  under  the  Marquis  of  Mantua.  This  was 
again  a  time  of  brave  exploits.  Bayard  was  lodged  close 
to  the  bridge  across  the  river,  and  one  day  saw  a  band  of 
two  hundred  Spaniards  making  an  attempt  to  cross  and 
surprise  the  camp.  He  sent  his  esquire  to  give  the  alarm, 
and  on  horseback  he  singly  kept  tlie  narrow  bridge  for  an 
hour,  when  a  party  of  French  came  up,  and  then,  crossing 
the  river,  they  drove  the  enemy  before  them,  till,  seeing  a 
body  of  seven  or  eight  hundred  at  hand.  Bayard  said, 
"  Messieurs,  we  have  done  enough  for  our  own  honor,"  and 
wheeled  about.  His  horse  was  so  tired  that  it  could  not 
keep  up  with  the  rest,  and  he  was  surrounded  by  the 
Spanish  and  made  prisoner.  They  did  not  take  away  his 
arms,  thinking  he  could  not  escape,  as  they  made  him 
march  among  them,  asking  his  name,  to  which  he  only 
answered,  "he  was  a  gentleman,"  thinking  that  if  they 
knew  him  they  would  be  unwilling  to  put  him  to  ransom. 
However,  as  soon  as  his  friends  missed  him,  there  was  an 
outcry  among  them  that  they  must  not  lose  the  flower  of 
chivalry.  They  rode  back  to  look  for  him,  made  a  sudden 
charge  on  the  unprepared  Spaniards,  rescued  him,  set  him 
on  a  fresh  horse,  on  which  he  galloped  off  among  them, 
shouting  to  the  enemy,  "  France,  France !  and  Bayard, 
whom  you  have  let  go  !" 

It  was  the  depth  of  winter,  and  the  Spanish  camp  was 
flooded  by  water  from  the  river :  the  whole  army  suffered 
dreadfully,  and  Prospero  Colonna  and  Pedro  Navarro  tried 
to  persuade  Gonzalo  to  retreat,  but  his  answer  was,  "  Our 
remaining  here  is  important  to  the  king's  service,  and  I  had 
rather  meet  death  by  advancing  three  steps  than  secure  life 
for  a  century  by  retreating  one."  He  did  advance,  on  the 
28th  of  December,  1503,  and  in  the  dreadful  battle  of  the 
Garigliano  gained  such  a  victory  that  the  French  resigned 
Gaeta,  on  condition  they  should  be  honorably  sent  home. 
The  other  garrisons  surrendered  on  the  same  terms,  except- 
ing that  commanded  by  Louis  d'Ars,  who  disdained  to 


SPANISH    CONQUEST   OP   NAPLES.  229 

OAvn  himself  conquered,  and  with  his  little  band,  in  martial 
array,  made  his  way  through  the  midst  of  the  enemy  the 
whole  length  of  Italy. 

Gonzalo  de  Cordova  entered  Naples  in  triumph,  and  was 
made  viceroy  of  the  kingdom  he  had  so  gallantly  won. 
He  soon  after  received  there,  as  a  fugitive,  the  much- 
dreaded  Cesare  Borgia,  It  was  the  custom  of  Cesare  and 
his  father  to  invite  to  banquets,  and  there  poison  the  per- 
sons whose  wealth  and  Church  benefices  they  coveted,  and 
in  August,  1503,  at  one  of  these  horrible  feasts,  they  were 
caught  in  their  own  snare,  and  each  by  mistake  swallowed 
a  draught  of  the  wine  intended  for  their  victims.  Alex- 
ander VI.  died  at  once,  but  Cesare,  being  younger  and 
stronger,  struggled  through  a  dreadful  illness,  which  left 
his  complexion  perfectly  livid  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He 
afterward  said  he  had  taken  every  measure  for  securing 
his  power,  and  influencing  the  choice  of  the  next  pope  at 
his  father's  death,  and  had  foreseen  every  contingency  ex- 
cept his  being  too  ill  at  the  time  to  be  able  to  act.  Thus 
it  happened  that  the  Conclave  elected  his  greatest  enemy, 
Giuliano  della  Rovere,  and  when  he  recovered  he  found  his 
power  so  entirely  ruined,  that  he  was  forced  to  take  refuge 
at  Naples.  Gonzalo  gave  him  a  safe  conduct,  and  treated 
him  as  a  prince,  but  on  receiving  commands  from  Spain, 
sent  him  thither  a  prisoner.  He  afterward  escaped  to 
Navarre,' but  was  killed  in  a  skirmish  in  1507. 

Spain  suffered  a  great  misfortune  in  1504,  in  the  death  of 
Queen  Isabel,  whose  health  had  suffered  much  from  soitow 
for  the  loss  of  her  elder  children,  and  anxiety  for  her  poor 
daughter  Juana,  who  was  becoming  more  and  more  un- 
sound in  mind.  After  an  attack  of  fever,  in  the  summer, 
the  queen  never  rallied ;  and  while  tears  and  prayers  were 
offered  throughout  Spain  for  her  recovery,  she  bade  her  at- 
tendants ask  only  for  the  salvation  of  her  soul.  She  died 
November  26,  1504,  and  was  buried  in  the  convent  she 
had  founded  in  the  Alhambra,  leaving  behind  her  one  of 
the  noblest  and  j^urest  names  in  history.  Her  realm  of 
Castile  passed  at  once  to  her  daughter  Juana,  whose  hus- 
band, the  Archduke  of  Austria,  and  Count  of  Holland  and 
Flanders,  is  known  in  history  as  Philip  I,  of  Spain.     He 


230  LANDMAEKS    OF    HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

was  a  wrong-headed,  hot-tempered  youth,  and  quarrelled 
with  the  old  king,  Fernando  of  Aragon,  who  resolved  on 
marrying  again,  in  hopes  of  having  a  son  to  inherit  his  own 
kingdom.  In  less  than  a  year  after  Isabel's  death,  he 
married  a  girl  of  eighteen,  Germaine  de  Foix,  daughter  to 
that  Viscount  de  Narbonne  who  claimed  the  kingdom  of 
Navarre,  his  own  great-niece,  but  happily  she  had  no 
children,  to  embroil  the  kingdom. 

His  son-in-law,  Philip  of  Austria,  only  reigned  two  years, 
dying  of  a  fever  in  1506,  leaving  two  sons,  Charles  and 
Ferdinand,  and  five  daughters,  the  youngest  of  whom  was 
born  after  his  death.  His  unhappy  wife.  Queen  Juana,  be- 
came entirely  deranged  by  her  grief:  she  could  not  weep, 
but  spent  the  rest  of  her  life  as  near  as  possible  to  his  re- 
mains, never  looking  up,  seldom  speaking,  and  incapable 
of  attending  to  anything.  The  Cortes  of  Castile  conferred 
the  regency  upon  King  Fernando  until  her  son  Charles 
should  be  of  age. 

Fernando  was  a  hard  suspicious  master,  and  after  his 
wife's  death,  he  showed  his  jealousy  by  shameful  treat- 
ment of  his  best  subjects,  especially  Columbus,  and  the 
Great  Captain.  He  became  mistrustful  of  the  great  affec- 
tion that  all  Naples  and  Sicily  had  for  the  splendid,  just, 
and  merciful  viceroy :  and  in  truth,  Gonzalo's  loyalty  had 
been  severely  tried,  for  Philip  I.  and  his  father  Maximilian 
had  joined  with  the  Pope,  in  offering  to  marry  Elvira,  his 
only  child,  to  the  young  Duke  of  Calabria,  set  the  crown 
of  the  Two  Sicilies  on  their  heads,  and  make  him  governor 
for  life.  He  had  answered  Philip  with  courteous  thanks 
and  refusals,  desired  the  Pope  to  remember  who  Gonzalo 
de  Cordova  was,  and  firmly  restrained  the  soldiers  who 
wanted  to  rise  in  his  cause ;  but  Ferdinand  could  not  be- 
lieve in  such  fidelity,  came  to  Naples,  and,  though  not  a 
fault  could  be  found  with  his  government,  he  displaced  him, 
and  sent  him  home.  He  did,  indeed,  promise,  before  he 
left  Naples,  to  make  him  master  of  Santiago,  but  the  prom- 
ise was  never  fulfilled ;  and  Gonzalo  retired,  neglected,  to 
his  own  mountain  estate  at  Loja.  There  tliebase  king  con- 
tinued to  show  such  suspicion  of  him,  that  he  thought  it 
right  to  give  up  all  the  estates  he  had  ever  received  from 


ITALIAN    LEAGUES.  231 

the  crown,  saying,  "  he  should  live  as  a  hermit  on  his  own 
rocks,  content  with  his  conscience,  and  the  remembrance  of 
his  services."  He  said  on  his  death-bed,  there  were  three 
deeds  he  bitterly  regretted :  the  breaking  the  oath  to  the 
Duke  of  Calabria;  the  violating  the  safe  conduct  to  Cesare 
Borgia ;  and  the  third  he  only  revealed  in  confession,  though 
we  may  be  sure  it  was  not  what  some  fancied — the  not 
making  Elvira  a  queen.  He  was  the  finest  type  who  ever 
lived,  of  the  old  Spanish  honor. 

PART   IV.       ITALIAN    LEAGUES.       1508-1517. 

The  great  object  of  every  patriotic  Italian  was  "to  drive 
the  barbarians  beyond  the  Alps,"  as  they  said,  and  one  of 
the  most  vehement  in  this  desire  was  the  new  Pope, 
Giuliano  della  Rovere,  otherwise  Julius  H.,  a  fiery  old  man, 
who  ought  to  have  been  a  soldier  instead  of  a  priest.  He 
had  no  love  for  luxury,  and  cut  off  all  the  vain  indulgences 
of  the  Roman  court ;  but  his  violence  and  passion  were  al- 
most as  disgraceful  as  the  crimes  of  the  Borgie.  Most  es- 
pecially he  hated  the  Venetians,  who,  when  Cesare  Borgia 
retreated  out  of  Romagna,  had  seized  a  great  many  places 
which  he  thought  belonged  to  the  Papal  See,  He  reviled 
them  furiously,  and  laid  them  under  an  interdict,  to  which 
they  did  not  take  much  heed. 

However,  Louis  XII.  and  his  minister.  Cardinal  d'Am- 
boise,  had  quarrels  of  their  own  with  the  republic  of  St. 
Mark ;  and  the  Emperor  Maximilian  had  not  only  been  de- 
feated, but  laughed  at — his  eccentric  habits  mimicked  in 
comedies,  and  the  nickname  given  him  of  Pochi-danari^  or 
the  moneyless.  They  began  to  think  of  combining  with 
the  Pope  against  the  proud  merchant  princes,  and  a  meet- 
ing was  held  at  Cambrai,  between  Cardinal  d'Amboise  and 
Maximilian's  clever  daughter  Margaret,  who  wrote  her 
father  an  account  of  the  conference,  saying  she  and  the 
cardinal  were  nearly  ready  to  pull  each  other's  hair,  in  their 
earnestness  for  the  advantage  of  their  employers. 

They  arranged  to  conquer  Venice,  and  divide  its  territory, 
and  called  on  the  Pope  to  join  with  them.  He  was  not 
much  pleased  to  find  he  had  thus  invited  a  fresh  incursion 


232  LAXDMAEKS    OF    HISTOllY.  [cHAP.  XIV. 

of  "  barbarians,"  but  he  was  obligedto  accede  to  their  plans, 
and  in  1509  Louis  XII.  himself  crossed  the  Alps.  The 
Venetians,  with  much  exertion,  raised  an  army,  commanded 
by  the  Condottiere  Bartolomeo  d'Alviano,  and  gave  battle 
to  the  French  at  Agnadello,  on  the  banks  of  the  Adda ; 
but  six  thousand  of  their  best  infantry  were  left  dead  upon 
the  field,  and  the  rest  of  their  troops  fled.  The  general, 
who  was  made  prisoner,  hearing  an  alarm  in  the  camp,  said 
•to  Louis  XII.,  "  It  can  be  none  of  our  men;  you  will  see  no' 
more  of  them  for  many  a  day." 

Louis  advanced,  and  fired  upon  Venice,  in  order  that  it 
might  be  said  that  a  King  of  France  had  assaulted  the 
Queen  of  the  Adriatic.  Never  had  the  Republic  been  in 
such  distress  since  the  Turkish  inroad  to  Chiozza,  but  there 
was  no  loss  of  heart ;  every  one  was  resolved  on  doing  his 
best,  and  even  an  old  councillor,  who  had  not  left  his  bed 
for  years,  was  carried  to  St.  Mark's  palace,  to  give  his  ad- 
vice. The  French  soon  retreated,  and,  shortly  after,  a  skil- 
ful attack  of  the  Venetians  rescued  Padua  from  the  Ger- 
mans on  St.  Marino's  Day.  It  was  such  a  timely  conquest, 
that  the  keys  of  the  city  were  laid  up  in  the  church  dedi- 
cated to  that  saint,  and  every  year  the  Doge  went  to  re- 
turn thanks  there.  This  loss  for  once  stirred  Maximilian 
into  activity,  and  in  great  wrath  he  assembled  an  immense 
army  of  German  princes,  nobles  and  knights,  lanzknechts 
and  Swiss,  and  being  joined  by  the  Sieur  de  la  Palisse,  the 
Chevalier  Bayard,  and  five  hundred  other  French  gentle- 
men, he  laid  siege  to  Padua.  The  valor  of  the  Germans 
was  not  held  in  much  esteem  within  the  town,  for  the 
Venetian  commander  told  some  Frenchmen,  who  were  made 
prisoners,  that  but  for  their  comrades,  he  should  soon  have 
sallied  out  and  driven  off  the  emperor.  It  seems  that 
Maximilian  had  not  much  reliance  on  his  feudal  force,  for 
when,  after  fifteen  days,  his  cannon  had  eftected  a  breach, 
he  wrote  a  note  to  La  Palisse,  desiring  him  and  his  party 
to  be  ready  at  beat  of  drum  at  noon,  that  day,  to  join  the 
lanzknechts  in  the  assault.  The  French  were  weary  of  the 
siege,, and  would  gladly  have  led  the  attack,  but  Bayard 
demurred,  and  by  his  advice  La  Palisse  made  answer  that 
it  was  not  fit  to  send  nobly-born  knights  and  gentlemen  to 


ITALIAN   LEAGUES.  233 

fight  on  the  same  terms  as  mere  common  soldiers,  who  had 
not  their  honor  in  so  much  esteem,  and  to  expose  the  lives 
of  his  high-born  French  allies,  where  he  only  ventured  his 
mere  hired  troops.  Therefore  they  declined  the  assault,  un- 
less some  of  the  German  nobility  would  accompany  them, 
in  which  case  they  would  gladly  show  the  way,  and  the 
lanzknechts  might  follow  if  they  pleased.  Maximilian 
thought  they  were  right,  but  when  he  made  the  proposal 
to  the  German  nobles,  one  and  all  replied,  that  they  were 
only  bound  to  fight  on  horseback,  and  would  never  demean 
themselves  by  marching  on  foot,  or  climbing  breaches. 
Very  much  displeased,  the  emperor  shut  himself  up  in  his 
tent  for  the  rest  of  the  day,  and  next  morning  set  off,  two 
hours  before  daybreak,  with  five  attendants,  rode  forty 
miles  without  resting,  sent  orders  to  break  up  the  siege, 
and  retired  to  Germany. 

Greatly  encouraged  by  their  success,  the  Venetians  next 
succeeded  in  making  peace  with  the  Pope,  by  offering  to 
give  up  to  him  the  city  of  Ravenna.  He  consented  to  ab- 
solve them,  on  their  sending  several  of  their  nobles  to  do 
penance  at  Rome,  each  on  their  bare  shoulders  receiving  a 
blow  from  the  Pope  and  the  cardinals ;  and  he  soon  after 
joined  them  and  the  Spaniards  in  what  he  called  the  Holy 
League,  for  driving  the  French  out  of  Italy.  So  bent  was 
the  tierce  old  man  on  this  object,  that  he  declared  no  cure 
was  so  good  for  a  fever,  from  which  he  was  recovering,  as 
to  punish  the  enemies  of  the  Churcli,  and  set  out  himself  to 
take  the  command  of  his  army.  He  besieged  Mirandola, 
and  stood  in  the  trenches  during  a  heavy  snow,  and  ex- 
posed to  the  fire  from  the  ramparts ;  and  when  the  assault 
was  made,  entered  the  town  by  a  ladder  at  the  breach. 
While  travelling  from  the  castle  of  San  Felice,  he  had 
nearly  fallen  into  an  ambush  prepared  by  Bayard,  and  was 
only  saved  by  a  headlong  flight  back  to  the  castle,  where 
he  was  forced  to  help  to  raise  the  drawbridge  with  his  own 
hands. 


L I  B  K  A  R  Y 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

CALIFORNl 


234  LANDMARKS    OF   HISTORY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 


PART   V.       BATTLE    OF    RAVENNA.       1513. 

The  French  in  Italy  were  now  commanded  by  a  newly 
created  Duke  de  Nemours,  Gaston  de  Foix,  brother  to 
Queen  Germaine  of  Aragon,  a  fine  young  man,  with  much 
talent  for  war,  who  began  to  gain  rapid  successes.  He  be- 
sieged Brescia,  a  town  so  much  valued  by  Venice  that  it 
was  called  the  little  daughter  of  St.  Mark,  and  there,  in  the 
assault,  finding  the  slope  steep  and  slippery,  he  threw  off 
his  steel  boots,  and  climbed  up  barefoot,  winning  the  town 
triumphantly ;  but  Bayard  was  severely  wounded  in  the 
thigh,  and  forced  to  be  carried  to  the  house  of  an  Italian. 
His  presence  guarded  the  family  from  plunder  and  exaction, 
and  when,  on  his  recovery,  the  lady  forced  upon  him  a  gift 
of  2,500  ducats,  which  she  deemed  the  right  of  the  con- 
queror, he  divided  the  sum  between  her  daughters  and  the 
convents  that  had  been  pillaged  ;  and  would  keep  nothing 
but  a  satin  embroidered  purse,  and  a  pair  of  bracelets  of 
hair,  worked  by  the  daughters,  as  presents  for  their  gentle 
victor. 

He  rejoined  the  French  army  at  Ravenna,  which  was  be- 
sieged by  Gaston  de  Foix.  Julius  II.  sent  the  Roman  gen- 
eral, Fabrizio  Colonna,  to  its  relief,  and  being  joined  by  a 
Spanish  force  under  Pedro  Navarro,  they  offered  battle  to 
the  French  on  Easter-day.  Alfonso  d'Este,  Marquis  of 
Ferrara,  was  the  only  Italian  ally  of  the  French,  and  so 
little  love"  did  he  bear  to  them,  that  when  his  artillery 
seemed,  in  the  course  of  the  battle,  to  be  firing  as  much  on 
friends  as  foes,  he  is  said  to  have  thus  encouraged  his  gun- 
ners :  "  Never  mind  whom  you  hit — the  Italians  are  all  on 
the  other  side,  and  the  rest  are  only  French."  To  save  Ital- 
ians was  his  object,  and  seeing  Fabrizio  Colonna  hard  pressed, 
he  advised  him  to  surrender  to  him.  Colonna  did  so,  on 
■  condition  he  would  not  give  him  up  to  the  French,  and  this 
was  the  beginning  of  a  close  friendship. 

There  was  an  astrological  prediction  that  Gaston  de  Foix 
should  die  on  Easter-day,  under  the  walls  of  Ravenna ;  and 
Bayard  and  Louis  d'Ars  had  agreed  to  keep  close  to  him  all 
day,  to  be  ready  to  protect  him.     At  the  close  of  the  day, 


BATTLE    OF    EAVENXA.  235 

liowever,  he  was  safe,  and  after  great  slaughter  and  hard 
fighting,  the  heavy  bodies  of  Spanish  infantry  had  been 
forced  to  retreat :  the  two  knights  resolved  to  lead  the  pur- 
suit, begging  the  duke  not  to  stir  from  the  place  where  he 
was  till  their  return.  Unfortunately,  Gaston  seeing  a  party 
of  Spaniards,  charged  them  with  a  few  of  his  suite.  But 
they  were  stronger  than  he  had  supposed :  he  was  sur- 
rounded, his  horse  was  hamstrung,  and  his  attendants 
vainly  called  out  that  he  was  the  brother  of  the  Queen  of 
Aragon  :  he  was  pierced  by  a  sword,  and  when  Bayard 
returned,  he  found  him  lifeless,  and  his  cousin,  Andre  de  Foix, 
Count  de  Lautrec,  by  his  side,  insensible,  and  with, twenty 
wounds.  This  loss  made  the  victory  into  a  defeat.  La 
Palisse  took  the  command,  but  was  forced  to  retreat,  har- 
assed by  the  enemy,  whom  Bayard  galLantly  combated  in 
the  rear,  till  his  arm  was  torn  from  shoulder  to  wrist  by  a 
ball  from  the  walls  of  Pavia.  Sickly,  worn  out,  and  ex- 
hausted, the  French  army  recrossed  the  Alps,  leaving  only 
a  few  garrisons  behind  them. 

The  death  of  Gaston  de  Foix  afforded  Fernando  the 
Catholic  a  pretence  for  saying  that  Germaine,  his  sister, 
had  a  right  to  the  throne  of  Navarre,  and  he  sent  the  Duke 
of  Alva  to  attack  the  true  queen,  Catherine  d'Albret.  Bay- 
ard signalized  himself  in  her  defence,  but  in  vain ;  the 
whole  little  Pyrenean  kingdom  was  conquered,  and  Cath- 
erine was  left  with  only  the  counties  of  Foix  and  Beam, 
which  she  had  inherited  from  her  grandfather,  the  husband 
of  Leonor.  Her  son,  Henri  d'Albret,  though  called  king 
of  Navarre,  was  only  a  French  noble. 

Louis  XIL  had  other  occupations  than  Italian  affairs  at 
that  time.  Besides  the  Navarrese  war,  and  an  attack  on 
Burgundy,  made  by  Maximilian,  his  English  neighbors  dis- 
quieted him.  Henry  VIIL  had  joined  the  Holy  League,  at 
the  instance  of  Julius  II.,  and  though  Louis  did  his  best  to 
find  him  employment  at  home,  by  inciting  James  IV.  of 
Scotland  to  invade  England,  the  fight  of  Flodden  and  the 
death  of  James  were  the  only  result,  and  the  English  king 
landed  at  Calais,  and  won  the  Battle  of  the  Spurs.  "  The 
fair  Queen  of  France,"  Anne  of  Brittany,  was  in  declining 
health,  when  she  named  the  unfortunate  James  her  knight 


236  LANDMAEKS   OF   HISTORY.  [cHAP.  XIV. 

and  love ;  and  she  soon  after  died,  leaving  two  daughters — 
Claude,  married  to  Fran9ois,  Comte  d'Angouleme,  heir  of 
the  throne,  and  Renee.  In  making  peace  with  Henry  VIII., 
Louis  asked  the  hand  of  the  beautiful  Mary  Tudor,  but  he 
died  three  months  after  the  wedding,  in  the  year  1514.  He 
has  been  called  "  the  Father  of  his  People,"  a  name  he 
little  deserved,  for  he  taxed  the  country  heavily,  to  support 
wars  which  he  conducted  so  ill  that  they  were  only  a  waste 
of  blood  and  valor,  and  his  victories  were  as  ruinous  as 
losses.  He  never  carried  out  a  project  with  steadiness,  and 
was  perfidious  and  unjust  in  his  treaties. 

Italy,  in  the  mean  time,  breathed  a  little  more  freely,  and 
Julius  II.  was  vehemently  at  work  with  his  projects  for  se^ 
curing*  it  against  the  French.  He  obtained  the  duchy  of 
Urbino  for  his  nephew ;  he  persuaded  the  Venetians  to 
restore  Massimiliano  Sforza  to  Milan,  and  the  Spaniards  to 
bring  back  Giovanni  and  Lorenzo  dei  Medici  to  Florence ; 
but  in  the  midst  of  his  intrigues  he  fell  sick,  and  died,  in 
1513,  having  made  his  name  noted  as  the  first  Pope  who 
rendered  his  temporal  power  formidable,  as  well  as  for 
having  begun  the  magnificent  building  of  St.  Peter's  as  it 
now  stands.  He  was  so  economical,  that  in  spite  of  such 
an  expense  as  this  edifice,  and  of  all  his  wars,  he  enriched 
the  papal  tiara  with  the  most  costly  jewels,  and  left  in  his 
treasury  380,000  florins,  to  80,000  of  which  the  cardinals 
are  said  to  have  helped  themselves  before  his  successor  was 
chosen. 

The  strangest  of  all  his  freaks  now  came  into  Maxi- 
milian's head.  He  wanted  to  be  Pope,  and  to  reform  the 
Church,  but  the  fancy  soon  passed  away,  and  the  cardinals 
elected  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  the  son  of  Lorenzo  the  Magni- 
ficent. He  was  only  thirty-seven,  tall  and  handsome,  of 
the  fine  manners,  literary  tastes,  and  habits  of  profuse  ex- 
penditure of  the  rest  of  the  family,  and  without  much  re- 
ligious principle.     He  took  the  name  of  Leo  X. 

In  1516  died  the  cold-hearted  and  ungrateful  Fernando 
of  Aragon,  who  fell  sick  at  a  little  village  called  Madriga- 
lejo,  and  expired,  after  attempting  to  leave  Aragon  to  his 
second  and  favorite  grandson,  Ferdinand,  and  appointing 
as  regent  the  great  Cardinal  Ximenes.     He  was  buried  at 


CONCLUSION".  237 

the  Alliambra,  beside  the  noble  queen  who  had  made  the 
beginning  of  his  thirty-seven  years'  reign  so  glorious. 

Here,  then,  just  before  the  commencement  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, we  close  the  history  of  the  Middle  Ages,  which  might 
be  called  the  history  of  the  rise  ajid  ascendancy  of  the 
Church  of  Rome. 


\ 
\ 


GENEALOGICAL  TABLE  OF  THE  EMPERORS  OF  ROME. 


Lucius  Julius  Caesar. 

I 


Julia,  married  Accins  Balbus.  Caius  Julitis  C^sab. 

Accia,  married  Caius  Octavius. 

B.  c.  14  Caius  Octavianns  Augustus  Caesar,  adopted 

A.  D.  14  Tiberias  Nero.  Nero  Claudius  Drusus. 


Claudius  Drusus. 


\>, 


Oermanicus.  41  Claudius. 


I  I 

Agrippina.  37  Caligula. 

54  Nero. 

69Galba.          69  Otho.  69  Vitellius.          70  Vespasian. 


79  Titus.        81  Domitian. 
96  Nerva.    98  Trajan,  adopted  117  Adrian,  adopted  138  Antoninus  Pius,  adoiyted 
161  Marcus  Aurelius. 

180  Commodus. 
192  Pertinax.      193  Didius  Julianus.       195  Septimus  Severus. 

211  Caracalla, 


217  Helio^abalus.    222  Alexander  Severus. 
Various  Emperors  chosen  by  the  Prietoriane. 

286  Maximian.  284  Dioclesian 

adoj^ted 

306  Constantius. 

I 

323  Constantine.  Julius  Constantius. 

I I 

I  i  I  360  Julian. 

327  Constans.    327  Constantinus.    327  Constantius. 


363  Jovian.  |  | 

364  Valens.  364  Valentinian  I. 

383  Theodosius  I.  I 


I  I  I 


I  I        375Gratian.  383  Valentinian  11. 

395  Arcadius.       395  Honorius. 


I  I  476  Komulus  Augustulus. 

408  Theodosius.    Pulcheria,  married  Martian,  450. 


240 


GENEALOGICAL   TABLES. 


EMPERORS  OF  THE  EAST. 
457  Leo  I. 

J 


468  Ariadne,  married  Zeno,  474 
I  adopted. 

474  Leo  n.      491  Anastasius. 


582  Maurice. 


602  Phocas. 


711  Philippicus. 

Isaurians. 
716  Leo  m. 

741  Constantino  V. 

775  Leo  IV. 

I 
780  Constantino  VI.  and  Irene. 

792  Irene,  alone. 

802  Nicephorus. 

813  Leo  V. 

829  Michael  II. 

829  Theophilus. 

842  Michael  HI. 


Comneni. 
1057  Isaac  Comnenus. 

Isaac 

1081  Alexius  I. 
I 


518  Justin,  nephew. 
528  Justinian,  nephew. 
565  Justin  II. 
568  Tiberius.  610  Heraclius. 

641  Constantine  U. 

642  Constans  11. 

668  Constantius  IV. 

685  Justinian  XL 
713  Anastatius  II. 


867  Basil. 

886  Leo  VI. 

I 
912  Constantine  VII. 

920  Constantine  Vni. 

950  Romanus  II. 

976  Constantine  IX. 

1-^— I 


1042  Theodora. 


Zoe  and  Constan- 
tine X. 


1059  Constantine  Ducas  XI. 

1073  Constantine  Xn. 

1104  Alexius  V.,  Murtzuphlus. 


1118  John 

1143  Manuel  L 

1180  Alexius  IT. 

1185  Isaac  Angelus. 

1195  Alexius  III. 

1 
1204  Anna,  married 
Theodore  Lascaris. 

1222  Irene,  married 
John  Ducas  Vatacea. 

1255  Theodore. 


Anna. 


1259  John 


Jn., 


Lascaris. 


Palaeologi. 
1260  Michael  Vin. 

1282  Andronicus  II. 

Michael. 

1332  Andronicus  lU. 

1341  John  IV. 

1847  John  Cantacnzenns. 

1391  Manuel  II. 

1425  John  V. 
I 


1448  Constantine  XTTT. 
Latin  Kingdom  of  Constantinople. 
1204  Baldwin  I.  1206  Henry.  1217  Peter  de  Courtenay. 

1221  Robert  de  Courtenay.        1228  Baldwin  II.  and  Jean  de  Brienne. 


GENEALOGICAL   TABLES.  241 

GENEALOGY  OF  TUE  EMPERORS  OF  GERMANY. 


CARLOVINGIANS. 

SOO  CHARLES  le  Magne. 

814  Louis  I. 
\ 

840  Lothaire.       855  Lonis  the  German.       875  Charles  le  Chauve. 
I 

879  Charles  le  Gros.      Carloman. 

887  Arnulf. 

899  Louis. 
912  Konrad, 
Duke  of  Franconia. 


HOUSE  OF  SAXONY. 

918  Henry  L,  the  Fowler. 

986  Otho  I.,  the  Great. 

I  


973  Otho  n.  Henry  Duke  of  Bavaria. 

983  Otho  III.  Henry  Duke  of  Bavaria. 

1002  Henry  U. 


HOUSE  OF  FRANCONIA. 

1024  Konrad  II. 

1039  Henry  m. 

I 
1056  Henry  IV. 

1106  Henry  V.  Agnes  married 

Frederick  of  Hohenstaufen, 
Duke  of  Swabia. 


HOUSE  OF  HOHENSTAUFEN. 


1138  Konrad  HI.  Frederic. 

1198  Philip  of  Swabia.  1152  Frederic  I.,  Barbarossa. 

1208  Otho  IV.,  of  Saxony.  1190  Henry  VI. 

1291  Adolf  of  Nassau.  1212  Frederic  II.,  King  of  Sicily, 

1314  Louis  of  Bavaria,  and  1250  Konrad  IV. 
Frederic  of  Austria.  Conradine. 

11 


242 


GEXEALOGICAL   TABLES. 


HOUSE  OF  LUXEMBURG. 

1308  Henry  Vn. 

John,  King  of  Bohemia. 
1347  Charles  IV. 


13T8  Wenceslas. 


1410  Sigismund. 

Elizabeth,  m.  Albert,  Duke  of  Austria. 


HOUSE  OF  HAPSBURG,  OR  AUSTRIA. 

1273  Rudolf  I. 

1291  Albert  L,  Duke  of  Austria. 

I  


Frederic,                   Leopold, 
Duke  of  Austria,      Duke  of  Austr 
King  of  Romans. 

Albert, 
•ia.      Duke  of  Austria. 
1 

Leopold,               Albert. 
Duke  of  Austria.             | 

1                      Albert. 
Ernest.                       1 
Duke  of  Austria.    1437  Albert  11. 
i                m.  Elizabeth, 
1440  Frederic  IV.         of  Bohemia. 

1493  Maximilian  I.,  m.  Maria, 

1                of  Burgundy. 
Philip,  m.  Juana,  of  Spain. 

1558  Ferdinand  I. 
1 

1519  Charles  V. 

1564  Maximilian  II. 
1 

Charles. 
1 

1576  Rudolf  n.              1612  Matthiae 

1619  Ferdinand  H. 
1637  Ferdinand  m. 
1658  Leopold  L 

1711  Charles  VI. 

1705  Joseph  L 

1737  Maria  Theresa, 
married  Francis,  Duke  of  Lormine. 
I   


1765  Joseph  II 


1790  Leopold  IL 
1792  Francis  IL 


Francis. 
1848  Francis  Joseph  1. 


roina 


1835  Ferdinand. 


GENEALOGICAL   TABLES. 


243 


GENEALOGICAL  TABLE  OF  KINGS  OF  FRANCE. 

987  Hugh  Capet. 

996  Robert. 

I 
1031  Henri  I. 

I 


1060  Philippe  I. 


Pierre. 
House  of  Court  enai. 


1108  Louis  VI. 

1137  Louis  Vn. 
1180  Phili  ppe  n. 

1223  Louis  Vni. 

I 


Robert. 

I 

Dukes  of  Burgundy. 


Kings  of  FortugaL 


Charles  of  Anjou, 
King  of  Naples. 


1226  Louis  IX 

I 


1270  Philippe  m. 
I 


1285  Philippe  IV.       ^^«.  .^^, 

I  Count  de  Valois. 


Robert. 
I 
j     Dukes  of  Bourbon. 
Charles, 


Isabelle,    1314  Louis  X 
married 
Edward  H.,  of  England, 


1316  Philippe  V.       1322  Charles  IV. 


HOUSE  OF  VALOIS. 

1270  Philippe  III. 

Charles,  Count  de  Valois. 

1328  Philippe  VI. 

1350  Jean. 

I 

I 


Louis, 

Duke  of  Orleans. 

I    . 


1364  Charles  V.       Louis,  Philippe  le  Hardi,  ' 

I         Duke  of  Anjou,    Duke  of  Burgundy. 
King  of  Naples. 


Charles,  Jean, 

Duke  of  Orleans.  Count 

I  d'Angouleme 

1498  Louis  Xn.  I 

Charles, 
Count  d'Angouleme. 

1515  Fran9oi3  I. 

1547  Henri  11. 

I 


1380  Charles  VI. 

1422  Charles  VH. 

1461  Louis  XL 

1483  Charles  VHI. 


Jean  Sanspeur, 
Duke  of  Burgundy. 

Philippe  le  Bon, 
Duke  of  Burgundy. 

Charles  I'lntrepide, 
Duke  of  Burgundy. 

Marie,  married 
Maximilian,  of  Austria. 


1559  Francois  II.,    1560  Charles  IX. 
m.  Mary,  Q.  of  Scots. 


Philippe.    Marguerite. 

I  Charles  V., 

1574  Henri  m.       Emperor  and 

Sovereign  of  Low  Countries. 


244 


GENEALOGICAL   TABLES. 


HOUSE  OF  BOUEBOK 


1226  St.  Louis  IX. 

I 

Robert,  Comte  de  Clermont, 

Beatrix  de  Bourbon. 

Louis,  Due  de  Bourbon. 


Jaques  de  Bourbon,       Pierre,  Due  de  Bourbon. 
Conte  de  la  Marche.  | 

I  Louis,  Due  de  Bourbon. 

Jean,  Conte  de  Vendome.  | 

I  Jean,  Due  de  Bourbon. 

Louis,  Conte  de  Vendome.  | 

Jean,              Charles,  Due  de  Bourbon.  Louis, 

Conte  de  Vendome.  | Conte  de  Montpensier. 

Francois,  Jean,  Pierre,  Gilbert, 

Conte  de  Vendome.  D.  de  Bourbon.  D.  de  Bourbon.  C.  de  Montpensier. 

Charles,  Susanne,  Duchesse,  married  Charles, 

Conte  de  Vendome.  C.  de  M.,  Constable,  D.  ae  B. 


Antoine, 

Louis,  Prince  de  Conde. 

Due  de  Vendome,  married 

1 

Jeanne,  Queen  of  Navarre. 

1                          1 

1 

Henri,  P.  de  C.     Fran9ois, 

1589  Henri  IV. 

1           Prince  de  Conty. 

1 

Henri,  Prince  de  Conde. 

1610  Louis  ynr, 

1 

1 

Louis,  Prince  de  Cond6. 

Gaston       1643  Louis  XIV. 

Philippe,    Louis,  Due  de  Bourboa. 

d' Orleans.                1 

Due  de  Orleans.        | 

1                    Louis. 

1           Louis,  Due  de  Bourbon. 

Anne  Marie                1 
(Mademoiselle).  Philippe  V., 
King  of  Spain, 

Philippe,                       1 
Due  d'Orleans,  Regent.    Due  d'Enghien. 

1 

1 

Louis,  Due  d'Orleans. 

Louis. 

1 

1 

Louis. 

1715  Louis  XV. 

1 

1 

Louis  I'Egalitg. 

Louis. 

1880  Louis  Philippe. 

1 

II                                 II 
1795  Louis  XVni.  1774  Louis  XVi.  18^  Charles  X.    Louis,  Due  d'Orleans. 

1                            I                                 1 

1793  Louis  XVn.    I 
Louis, 
Due  de  Angouleme. 


I    Count  of  Paris. 
Charles, 
Due  de  Berri. 


Henri  (V),  Due  de  Bordeaux. 


GENEALOGICAL   TABLES. 


245 


GENEALOGY  OF  KINGS  OF  SPAIN. 
KINGS  OF  LEON. 

718  Pelayo. 


737  Favila.       739  Ermesinda  married  Alfonso  I. 

I 


788  Bermudo. 

&42  Kamiro  I. 

851  Ordono  I. 

8C6  Alfonso  III. 
I 

910  Garcia. 


768  Aurelio. 


758  Fruela  I. 
791  Alfonso  II. 


783  Mauregato. 


914  Ordono  II. 
I 


923  Fruela  II, 


924  Alfonso  IV. 
967  Ramiro  III. 


927  Ramiro  II. 
I 


950  Ordono  III. 
983  Bermudo  II. 

999  Alfonso  V. 

I 


956  Sancho  I. 


1027  Bermudo  III.  Sancha,  married 

Fernando  of  Navarre,  Count  of  Castile. 


KINGS  OF  CASTILE  AND  LEON. 

1035  Fernando  I.,  conquered  Leon. 


1065  Sancho  U.  1072  Alfonso  VI.         Garcia. 

1109  Alfonso  VII.,  and  Urraca. 

r    


1214  Enrique  I. 


11.57  Fernando,  Teresa. 

King  of  Leon.  married 

I  Henry  of  Burgundy. 

I  Kings  of  Portugal. 


Fernando. 

I 


Fernando.  Alfonso. 

The  Infants  de  la  Cerda. 


1157  Sancho  III. 

1158  Alfonso  VHI. 
I 

1217  Berenguela,  married  Alfonso  IX.,  K.  of  Leon. 

1217  Fernando  11. 

1252  Alfonso  X. 
I 

1284  Sancho  FV. 

1295  Fernando  in. 
I 


1312  Alfonso  XI. 
I 

1350  Pedro  I., 
the  Cruel. 


Brites,  married 
Alonso,  of  Portugal. 

Enrique, 
Count  of  Trastamara. 


246  GEXEALOGICAL   TABLES. 

HOUSE  OF  TRASTAMARE  IN  CASTILE  AND  LEON. 

1369  Enrique  H. 

1379  Juan  I, 
I 


1390  Enrique  III.  Fernando, 


1404  Juan  U. 
I 


King  of  Aragon. 


1454  Enrique  lY.  Alfonso.  1474  Isabel  I., 

I  married 

Juana.  Ferdinand  of  Aragon. 


1504  Juana, 

married 

Philip  of  Austria. 

Ferdinand,  1515  Charles  V., 

Emperor.  King  of  Castile  and  Aragon, 

and  Emperor. 


HOUSE  OF  AUSTRIA  IN  SPAIN. 

1516  Charles  V. 
1556  Philip  n. 
1598  Philip  III. 
1621  Philip  rV. 

1665  Charles  II.    Maria  Teresa,  Mariana, 

married  married 

Louis  XIV.,  of  France.       Arch-Duke  Charles,  of  Germany. 


HOUSE  OF  BOURBON  IN  SPAIN. 

Maria  Teresa, 

married 

Louis  XIV.,  of  France. 

Louis. 

1700  Philip  V. 

1724Loui8.         1746  Ferdinand  VI.     1759  Charles  HL  Philip, 

I  Duke  of  Parma. 

Ferdinand,              1788  Charles  IV.  Ferdinand. 

King  of  Naples. |  | 


Lonis. 


1808  Ferdinand  Vn.  Don  Carlos.      ^J  , 

I  Charles. 

1833  Isabel  n. 


GENEALOGICAL   TABLES. 


247 


GENEALOGY  OF  KINGS  OF  NAVARRE. 

837  Sancho. 

851  Garcia  Inigues. 

880  Fortanio  Garcias. 

905  Sancho  Garcias. 

I 
925  Garcia  Sanches  II. 

970  Saucho  11,,  Abarca. 

994  Garcia  Sanches  III. 


Fernando, 
KinK  of  Castile. 


Ramiro, 
King  of  Aragon. 

1076  Sancho  V. 
I 


1000  Sancho  in. 
I 

1035  Garcia  Sanches  FV. 
I 

I 


1054  Sancho  IV. 
1094  Pedro  L,  of  Aragon.    1104  Alfonso  I. 


Ramiro. 

Garcia. 

1135  Garcia  V. 

1150  Saucho  VI. 

I 


:na, 


Sancha,  m.  Berengaria,  m.       1194  Sancho  VII. 

Thibault,  Count  of  Champagne.    Richard  Cceur  de  Lion. 

12a4  Thibault  I. 

I 

1253  Thibault  H.  1270  Henri  I. 

1274  Jeanne,  m.  Philippe  le  Bel  of  France,  1285. 


1304  Louip,         1316  Philippe, 
King  of  France.    K.  of  France. 


1323  Charles  I.,  King  of  France  and  Navarre. 

1328  Jeanne,  m.  Philip,  Count  d'Evreux. 
1 
1349  Charles  II.,  le  Mauvais. 

1387  Charles  ni.,  le  Noble. 


1425  Blanche,  m.  Juan  II.,  of  Aragon. 


1475  Leonor,  m.  Gaston  de  Foix. 
I 


1457  Blanca.    1411  Carlos,  Prince  of  Viana. 


Gaston. 

I 


Jean  de  Foix, 
Viconte  de  Narbonne. 


1479  Francis  Phcebus.    14a3  Catherine, 
m.  Jean  d'Albret. 


Antoine. 

I 

Antoine, 

Conte  de  Lautrec. 


I  Gapton  de  Foix.         Germaine, 

I         Due  de  Nemours.  married 

1516  Henry  II.,  d'Albret.  Ferdinand  of  Aragon. 

1543  Jeanne  d'Albret,  m.  Antoine  de  Bourbon. 

1572  Henri  III.— IV.  of  France. 


248  GENEALOGICAL   TABLES. 

GENEALOGY  OF  KINGS  OF  PORTUGAL. 
HOUSE  OF  ENRIQUES. 
1094  Enrique,  Count  of  Portugal. 
1112  Alfonso  Enrique  I. 
1185  Sancho  I. 


1212  Alfonso  II. 
1 

1233  Sancho  H. 

1248  Alfonso  HI. 

1279  Diniz. 

1325  Alfonso  IV. 

1357  Pedro  L 
1 

Joao,  Grand  Master  of  Avis, 

1367  Fernando  I. 

HOUSE  OF  AVIS. 

1383  Joao  I. 
1 

el 

Fernando,                1433  Duarte 
principe  constante.                 | 

Enrique, 
The  discoverer. 

1438  Alfonso  V.  Fernando. 

I  I 

1481  Joao  n.       1495  Manoel. 

Alfonso. 


1578  Enrique.     Isabel  m.  Charles  V.  of  Spain.         1521  Joao  Hi.       Duarte. 

1580  Philip  ll.  of  Spain.  \ 1  Catalina, 

I  Maria.       Joao.            married 

1598  Philip  III.  of  Spain.  |        Joao  of  Braganza. 

I  1557  Sebastiao.                    | 

1621  Philip  IV.  Joao,  Duke  of  Braganza. 


HOUSE  OF  BRAGANZA. 

1640  Joao  IV. 

I 


1656  Alfonso  VI.  1683  Pedro  H. 

I 


1706  Joao  V. 

1750  Jose. 

1777  Maria,  married  Pedro. 

1816  Joao  VI. 

j 

1826  Pedro.  Don  Miguel. 

Emperor  of  Brazil. 

1826  Maria  dc  Gloria. 


GENEALOGICAL   TABLES.  249 

GENEALOGY  OF  THE  KINGS  OF  NAPLES  AND  SICILY. 
HOUSE  OF  HAUTEVILLE. 

Tancred  de  Hanteville. 
I 

1055  Robert  Guiscard,        1072  Roger,  Count  of  Sicily.  Another  brother. 

Duke  of  Apulia.  |  I 

j  1139  Roger  H.,  K.  of  Two  Sicilies.         Tancred. 

■j r  ^_J Prince  of  Galilee. 

Boemond,  William,  I  |  | 

Prince  of  Antioch.    Duke  of  Apulia.    1153  William  I.    Constanza,    1190  Tancred. 
I  I  married 

Constance.  1166  William  11.    Heinrich  VI.  of  Germany. 

HOUSE  OF  HOHENSTAUFEN. 

1194  Constanza,  in. 
Heinrich  of  Hohenstaufen,  Emperor  of  Germany. 

1197  Frederic  I.,  of  Sicily,  II.  of  Germany. 


1258  Manfred.  1250  Konrad. 

Constanza,  Conradine. 

married  Pedro  of  Aragon. 

FIRST  HOUSE  OF  ANJOU  IN  NAPLES. 
1265  Charles  I.,  Count  d'Anjou,  King  of  Sicily  by  investiture. 

1285  Charles  II. 

I 

I  I 

1309  Robert.  Carobert, 

I  King  of  Hungary. 


Charles,  Duke  of  Durazzo,    Charles.  i  T" 

1382  Charles  II.  1343  Giovanna  I.  marries  Andrea. 

I 


1385  Ladislao.  1414  Giovanna  II. 

SECOND  HOUSE  OF  ANJOU. 
1380  Louis,  Due  d'Anjou,  adopted  by  Giovanna  I. 

1384  Louis  II. 

J 

1423  Louis  IIL 143S  Rene,  adopted  by  Giovanna  I.,  m. 

Jean,  Yolande,  married  Ferrand  de  Vaudemont. 

Duke  of  Calabria.  i 

I        Rene  11.,  Duke  of  Lorraine. 
Jean.  | 


Antoine  Claude. 

Duke  of  Lorraine.  Dukes  of  Guise. 

Francis. 

11*  Henri  le  Balafre. 


250  GEXEALOGICAL   TABLES. 

HOUSE  OF  AEAGON  IN  SICILY. 
1282  Constanza,  married  Pedro  of  Aragon. 


1285  Jayme.  1295  Frederic  II. 

1337  Pedro  II. 

1342  Louis. 

1355  Frederic  HL 
1387  Maria, 

married 
Martin,  King  of  Aragon. 


SECOISTD  HOUSE  OF  ARAGON  IN  NAPLES  AND  SICILY. 

1421  Alfonso  V.  of  Aragon,  adopted  by  Giovanna  II.  of  Naples. 

1458  Ferdinand  I. 
I 


I  I 

1494  Alfonso  II.  1496  Frederic  IV. 

1495  Ferdinand  11.  Ferdinand, 

Duke  of  Calabria. 


SPANISH  HOUSE  OF  BOURBON  IN  NAPLES  AND  SICILY. 

Louis  XIV.  of  France. 

Philip  V.  of  Spain. 

1746  Charles  I., 
King  of  Naples. 

1759  Ferdinand  L 

1825  Francis. 

1830  Ferdinand  11. 


INDEX  FOR  EXAMINATION 


Adelaide,  14-15 ;  Affonso,  61 ;  Arnold  of 
Brescia,  (MJ ;  Ahelard,  (Hi ;  As!*as8lns, 
76;  Alexius  An«,'elus.  81-83;  Albi- 
genses,  85-88 ;  Acre,  Siejje  of,  75-76 ; 
Acre,  Loss  of,  115-117;  Albrecht,  127- 
129:  Jacob  Von  Artevelde,  l*3-i;« ; 
Philippe  Von  Artevelde.  155-15«>;  Ar- 
nold V  on  Wiukelried,  161 ;  Alfonso  V., 
175-176,  179-180 ;  Alexander  VI.,  219, 
221,229. 


Berserkars,  12 ;  St.  Bernard.  61-65 ;  Bald- 
win of  Flanders,  a4 ;  Bank,  112;  Boc- 
caccio, 119:  Boniface,  VIII.,  11JM23; 
Boniface  XII.,  163;  Bajazet,  169-170; 
Boabdil,  202-205 ;  Bajazet  II.,  21()-221 ; 
Bayard,  22<},  228,  232-235. 


Charles  Martel,  6;  Charlemagne,  7-9; 
Cid  Campeador,  24-25 ;  Conclave,  27 ; 
First  Crusade,*  54-56 ;  Second  Cru- 
sade, <hi-€5;  Thirff  Crusade,  74-77; 
Fourth  Crusade,  80-82 ;  Charles  of  An- 
jou,  97,  100-103,  106,  109-112;  Conrad- 
ine,  99,  101-103;  Fifth  Crusade,  92; 
Sixth  Crusade,  92-93;  Seventh  Cru- 
sade, 97-99 ;  Eighth  Crasade,  106-108 ; 
Charles  v.,  147-150;  Charles  VI.,  150, 
156-160,  171 ;  Olivier  de  Clisson,  1.38, 
148,  1.50;  Charles  VII.,  172,  193-194; 
-^Charles  the  Bold,  19:W96  ;  Carlos,  180 ; 
Constantine  XIII.,  184-186;  Caterina 
Coraaro,  187-188;  Matthias  Corvinus, 
186,  191,  207;  Charles  VIII.,  198,  217- 
222;  Columbus,  211-214. 


Dominicans,  S7;  Dante  Alighieri,  114; 
Albert  Diirer,  208. 


Enrique,  178-179 ;  Erasmus,  206. 


Feudal  System,  .30-31:  Frederick  Bar- 
barossa,  (H>-«9,  73-75;  Frederick  II., 
78,  90-95;  Franciscans.  86;  S.  Fernan- 
do, 95-96;  Florins,  112;  Froissart, 
150:  Fernando,  178-179;  Ferdinando 
of  Naples,  218-220;  Gaston  de  Foix, 


Gregory  VII.,  26-.30;  Guclfs,  62;  Gun- 
povvtfer,  118,  208-210;  Bertrand  de 
Guesclin,  1.38,  146-1.50;  Giovanna  of 
Naples;  142-144;  Giovanna  II.,  1.54, 
164 ;  Gonzalo  de  Cordova,  203-204,  222, 
2ai-231. 


Haroun  al  Raschid,   7-8 ;    Harald,   13 ; 

'  Hugh,  15-16  ;  Harald  Hardrada,  22-23 ; 
Harold,  23 ;  Henri  of  Lorraine,  25-26 ; 
Heinrich  IV.,  26-30 ;  Heinrich  VI.,  68- 
69,  74-75,  77:  Heinrich  VII.,  of  Lux- 
emburg, 130-131 ;  Humbert  of  Vienne, 
1.36:  Johann  Huss,  165;  Hunniades, 
181,' 183-184;  Hans  Holbein,  208. 


*  In  reciting  Crusades,  give  for  each— date ;  by  w^hom  preached ;  by  whom  led  ; 
chiefly  from  what  nations ;  what  results. 


252 


INDEX    FOK    EXAMINATION. 


Ikonoklast,  5 ;  Isabelle,  75-76 ;  Innocent 
III.,  78-80,  88-89  ;  Ines  de  Castro,  144- 
145 ;  Isabelle  of  Castile,  199-205,  211- 
214. 


Johann  of  Bohemia,  130-132,  135 ;  Jean 
de  France,  13(>-138;  Jean  Sans  Peur, 
159-160,  171 ;  St.  John  Von  Nepomuk, 
162 ;  Janissaries,  168 ;  Jeanne  d* Arc, 
172-173;  Julius  II.,  231-236;  James 
IV.,  216,  235. 


Knighthood,  38-40;  Knights  Hospital- 
lers, 57-59, 124, 191-192 ;  Knights  Tem- 
plar, 57-59,  116,  117,  124-126 ;  Thomas 
a  Kempis,  153. 


Louis  le  Debonnaire,  9-10  ;  Leo  IX.,  18  ; 
Louis  VI.,  60;  Louis  VIL,  60-65,  73; 
Louis  IX.,  90,  96-99.  106-107;  Leopold 
of  Austria,  161;  Louis  XI.,  19;i-198; 
Martin  Luther,  206  ;  Ludovico  Sforza, 
218-224;  Louis  XII.,  222,  224-225,231- 
232,235;  Leo  X.,  236. 

Marquis,  4 ;  Miramamolin,  85 ;  Manfred, 
99-101;  Michael  Pateologos,  104-106; 
Jeanne  de  Montfort,  134-135 ;  Jean  de 
Montfort,  138 ;  Margaret  of  Denmark, 
166-167;  Cosmo  de  Medici,  176;  Mon- 
tenegro, 189 ;  Lorenzo  do  Medici,  189- 
190 ;  Marie  of  Burgundy,  196, 197.  216 ; 
Lorenzo  dc  Medici,  the  Magnificent, 
207,  218 ;  Michael  Angelo,  207-208 ; 
Maximilian,  216,  218,  231-236. 


Otho  L,  15;  Olaf,  17;  Otho  IV. 
Othman,  168. 


Peter  the  Hermit,  52-53;  Philippe  n.. 


Auguste,  73-76,  78-80,88-90;  Petrarch, 
118-119;  Paper,  118;  Philippe  lA^,  le 
Bel,  120-12();  Philippe  VL,  132-135; 
Pedro  the  Cruel,  145-147 ;  Philippe  of 
Burgundy,  171 ;  Pius  II.,  186-187. 


Rollo,  13-14 ;  Richard,  16 ;  Robert  Guis- 
card,  19-20 ;  Roger  de  Hauteville.  20-21 ; 
Robert  the  Magnificent,  21-22 ;  Richard 
Coeur  de  Lion,  7.3-77  ;  Rudolf  of  Haps- 
burg,  109, 112  ;  Rienzi,  140-142 ;  Arthur  ~ 
de  Richemont,  160 ;  Rene  of  Anjou, 
173-176,  181;  John  Reuchlin,  206; 
Raphael,  208. 


S 


Slave,  3;  Sigurd,  59;  Sybilla,  69-71,  76; 
Saladin,  70-72,  77 ;  Sigismund  of  Lux- 
emburg, 162-166;  Francesco  Sforza, 
176-177;  Skanderbeg,  182-184,  188; 
Stradiots,  190;  Savonarola,  220,  222- 
223. 


William  Tell,  128-129. 


U 


Ugolino  della  Gherardesca,  114-115  ;  Ur- 


jgonno  CI 
ban  VI. 


151-152. 


Vasco  de  Gama,  210-211 ;  Vassily,  215. 

W 

William  the  Conqueror,  22-23 ;  Gertrude 
Von  der  Wart,  im ;  William  of  Wyke- 
ham,  153;  John  Wycliffe,  153-154: 
Wenzel,  160-162. 


Zenghis  Khan,  104 ;  John  Ziska,  166. 


r 


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